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King  Agrippa.  believest  thou  the  prophets?  " 

ACTS  XXVlV.27. 


*f£0  yoxx,0  Men  j  c^  f. 


©  8  TOl- 


BAXTER'S   CALL. 


CALL 

TO 

THE  UNCONVERTED. 


TO    WHICH    ARE   ADDED 


SEVERAL  VALUABLE  ESSAYS. 


BY   RICHARD    BAXTER. 
v^v      OF  THE 

WITH 

jTJNIVEESITYl 

A  %I  |gR  0  D<g£  T  0  _R\  E  S,g  A  Y , 


BOSTON: 
CHARLES    H.    PEIRCE, 

3     CORNHILL. 

1848. 


£3 


NOTICE. 

The  works  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Baxter  are  distinguished 
for  great  energy  of  style,  and  a  fervent  zeal  for  the  salva- 
tion of  sinners.  The  present  work  holds  a  prominent  rank 
among  his  publications.  A  rapid  succession  of  editions  has 
been  published  in  various  countries,  and  multitudes  have 
undoubtedly  jeen  trained  for  heaven,  whose  attention  was 
first  awakened  to  the  concerns  of  the  soul  by  reading  his 
■  Call  to  the  Unconverted.'  With  a  view  to  extend  the  circu- 
lation of  so  useful  a  work,  the  present  edition  has  been  ste- 
reotyped, believing  that  many  benevolent  persons  will  take 
pleasure  in  procuring  a  neat  pocket  edition  for  gratuitous 
circulation.  Different  copies  have  been  carefully  compared, 
and  great  pains  taken  to  secure  accuracy  to  this  edition  ;  and, 
to  render  the  work  more  welcome  to  readers  of  the  present 
day,  in  a  few  instances  the  diction  has  been  improved.  The 
Discourse,  entitled  '  Now  or  Never,'  which  is  added  to  the 
work,  is  greatly  abridged,  to  compress  it  to  a  size  which 
would  admit  of  its  insertion ;  and  the  other  selections  from 
Baxter's  works,  which  are  here  presented,  it  is  believed  will 
meet  a  cordial  reception.  That  the  work  may  continue  to 
exert  a  powerful  influence  in  favour  of  vital  godliness,  is  the 
earnest  wish  of 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 

Boston,   Jan.   1329.  ,^* 


1 


i 


PRESS  OF  GEORGE  C.  RAND  &  CO. 


i 


INTRODUCTORY   ESSAY. 


Having  already  introduced  to  the  notice  of  our 
readers  one  of  Richard  Baxter's  most  valuable 
Treatises,*  in  the  Essay  to  which  we  adverted  to 
the  character  and  writings  of  this  venerable  author, 
we  count  it  unnecessary  at  present  to  make  any  allu- 
sion to  them,  but  shall  confine  our  remarks  to  the 
subject  of  the  three  Treatises  which  compose  the 
present  volume,  namely,  "A  Call  to  the  Uncon- 
verted TO  TURN  AND  LIVE;  "      "  Now  OR  NEVER;  " 

and  "  Fifty  Reasons  why  a  sinner  ought  to 
turn  to  God  this  day  without  delay." 

These  Treatises  are  characterized  by  all  that  so- 
lemn earnestness,  and  urgency  of  appeal,  for  which 
the  writings  of  this  much-admired  author  are  so  pe- 
culiarly distinguished.  He  seems  to  look  upon  man- 
kind solely  with  the  eyes  of  the  Spirit,  and  exclusive- 
ly to  recognise  them  in  their  spiritual  relations,  and 
in  the  great  and  essential  elements  of  their  immortal 
being.  Their  future  destiny  is  the  all-important 
concern  which  fills  and  engrosses  his  mind,  and  he 
regards  nothing  of  any  magnitude  but  what  has  a 
distinct  bearing  on  their  spiritual  and  eternal  condi- 
tion. His  business,  therefore,  is  always  wuth  the 
conscience,  to  which,  in  these  Treatises,  he  makes 
the  most  forcible  appeals,  and  which  he  plies  with 
all  those  arguments  which  are  fitted  to  awaken  the 
sinner  to  a  deep  sense  of  the  necessity  and  importance 

*  The  Saints*  Everlasting  Rest,  with  an  Essay  by  Mr. 
Erskine. 


of  immediate  repentance.  In  his  "  Call  to  the  Un- 
converted," he  endeavours  to  move  them  by  the 
most  touching  of  all  representations,  the  tenderness 
of  a  beseeching  God  waiting  to  be  gracious,  and  not 
willing  that  any  should  perish;  and  while  he  employs 
every  form  of  entreaty,  which  tenderness  and  com- 
passion can  suggest,  to  allure  the  sinner  to  "  turn 
and  live,"  he  does  not  shrink  from  forcing  on  his 
convictions  those  considerations  which  are  fitted  to 
alarm  ;iis  fears,  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  and  the 
wrath,  not  merely  of  an  offended  Lawgiver,  but  of  a 
God  of  love,  whose  threatenings  he  disregards,  whose 
grace  lie  despises,  and  whose  mercy  he  rejects.  And 
aware  of  the  deceitfulness  of  sin  in  hardening  the 
hear:,  and  in  betraying  the  sinner  into  a  neglect  of 
his  spiritual  interests,  he  divests  him  of  every  refuge, 
and  strips  him  of  every  plea  for  postponing  his  pre- 
paration for  eternity.  "He  forcibly  exposes  the  delu- 
sion of  convenient  seasons,  and  the  awful  infatuation 
and  hazard  of  delay;  and  knowing  the  magnitude  of 
the  stake  at  issue,  he  urges  the  sinner  to  immediate 
repentance,  as  if  the  fearful  and  almost  absolute  al- 
ternative were  "  Now  or  Never."  And  to  secure 
the  commencement  of  such  an  important  work 
against  all  the  dangers  to  which  procrastination 
might  expose  it,  he  endeavours  to  arrest  the  sinner 
in  his  career  of  guilt  and  unconcern,  and  resolutely 
to  fix  his  determination  on  "  turning  to  God  this  day 
without  delay." 

There  are  two  very  prevalent  delusions  on  this 
subject,  which  we  should  like  to  expose;  the  one  re- 
gards the  nature,  and  the  other  t\\c  .season  of  re- 
pentance; both  of  which  are  pregnant  with  mischief 
to  the  minds  of  men.  With  regard  to  the  first, 
much  mischief  has  arisen  l'rom  mistakes  respecting 
the  meaning  of  the  term  rtpfftfaRK.  The  word 
repentance  occurs  with  tWO different  meanings  in  the 
New  Testament;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted,  that  two 
different  words  could  not  have  hern  devised  to  ex- 
press these.     This  is  chargeable  upon  the  poverty 


of  our  language;  for  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  in  the 
original  Greek  the  distinction  in  the  meanings  is 
pointed  out  by  a  distinction  in  the  words.  The  em- 
ployment of  one  term  to  denote  two  different  thing:*} 
has  the  effect  of  confounding  and  misleading  the  un- 
derstanding; and  it  is  much  to  be  wished,  that  every 
ambiguity  of  this  kind  were  cleared  away  from  that 
most  interesting  point  in  the  process  of  a  human  soul, 
at  which  it  turns  from  sin  unto  righteousness,  and 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God. 

When,  in  common  language,  a  man  says,  c  I  re- 
pent of  such  an  action,'  he  is  understood  to  say,  '  I 
am  sorry  for  having  done  it.'  The  feeling  is  fami- 
liar to  all  of  us.  How  often  does  the  man  of  dissi- 
pation prove  this  sense  of  the  word  repentance,  when 
he  awakes  in  the  morning,  and,  oppressed  by  the  lan- 
guor of  his  exhausted  faculties,  looks  back  with 
remorse  on  the  follies  and  profligacies  of  the  night 
that  is  past?  How  often  does  the  man  of  unguard- 
ed conversation  prove  it,  when  he  thinks  of  the 
friend  whose  feelings  he  has  wounded  by  some  hasty 
utterance  which  he  cannot  recall?  Plow  often  is  it 
proved  by  the  man  of  business,  when  he  reflects  on 
the  rash  engagement  which  ties  him  down  to  a  losing 
speculation?  All  these  people  would  be  perfectly 
understood  when  they  say,  'We  repent  of  these 
doings.'  The  word  repentance  so  applied  is  about 
equivalent  to  the  word  regret.  There  are  several 
passages  in  the  New  Testament  where  this  is  the 
undoubted  sense  of  the  word  repentance.  In  Matt, 
xxvii.  3.  the  wretched  Judas  repented  himself  of  his 
treachery;  and  surely,  when  we  think  of  the  awful 
denunciation  uttered  by  our  Saviour  against  the  man 
who  should  betray  him,  that  it  were  better  for  him 
if  he  had  not  been  born,  we  will  never  confound  the 
repentance  which  Judas  experienced  with  that  re- 
pentance which  is  unto  salvation. 

Now  here  lies  the  danger  to  practical  Christiani- 
ty. In  the  above-cited  passage,  to  repent  is  just  to 
•  egret,  or  to  be  sorry  for;  and  this  we  conceive  to 


be  by  far  the  most  prevailing  sense  of  the  term  in 
the  English  language.  But  there  are  other  places 
where  the  same  term  is  employed  to  denote  that  which 
is  urged  upon  us  as  a  duty — that  which  is  preach- 
ed for  the  remission  of  sins — that  which  is  so  indis- 
pensable to  sinners,  as  to  call  forth  the  declaration 
from  our  Saviour,  that  unless  we  have  it,  we  shall 
all  likewise  perish.  Now,  though  repentance,  in  all 
these  cases,  is  expressed  by  the  same  term  in  our 
translation  as  the  repentance  of  mere  regret,  it  is  ex- 
pressed by  a  different  term  in  the  original  record  of 
our  faith.  This  surely  might  lead  us  to  suspect  a 
difference  of  meaning,  and  should  caution  us  against 
taking  up  with  that,  as  sufficient  for  the  business  of 
our  salvation,  which  is  short  of  saving  and  scriptural 
repentance.  There  may  be  an  alternation  of  wilful 
sin,  and  of  deeply-felt  sorrow,  up  to  the  very  end  of 
our  history — there  may  be  a  presumptuous  sin  com- 
mitted every  day,  and  a  sorrow  regularly  succeeding 
it.  Sorrow  may  imbitter  every  act  of  sin — sorrow 
may  darken  every  interval  of  sinful  indulgence — and 
sorrow  may  give  an  unutterable  anguish  to  the 
pains  and  the  prospects  of  a  deathbed.  Couple  all 
this  with  the  circumstance  that  sorrow  passes,  in  the 
common  currency  of  our  language,  for  repentance, 
and  that  repentance  is  made,  by  our  Bible,  to  lie  at 
the  turning  point  from  a  state  of  condemnation  to  n 
state  of  acceptance  with  God;  and  it  is  difficult  Dot 
to  conceive  that  much  danger  may  have  arisen  from 
this,  leading  to  indistinct  views  of  the  nature  oi'  re- 
pentance, and  to  slender  and  superficial  conceptions 
of  the  mighty  change  which  is  implied  in  It 

We  are  far  from  saying  that  Ihe  eve  of  Chris- 
tians is  not  open  to  this  danger — and  that  the  vigi- 
lant care  of  Christian  authors  has  not  been  employed 
in  averting  it.  Where  will  weget  abetter  delini- 
tion  of  repentance  unto  life  than  in  onr  Shorter 
Catechism:  by  which  the  sinner  is  represented  not 
merely  a,s  grieving,  but,  along  with  his  grief  and 
hatred  of  sin,  as  turning  from  it  unto  God  with  full 


purpose  of,  and  endeavour  after  new  obedience. 
But  the  mischief  is,  that  the  word  repent  has  a  com- 
mon meaning,  different  from  the  theological;  that 
wherever  it  is  used,  this  common  meaning  is  apt  to 
intrude  itself,  and  exert  a  kind  of  habitual  imposi- 
tion upon  the  understanding — that  the  influence  of 
the  single  word  carries  it  over  the  influence  of  the 
lengthened  explanation — and  thus  it  is  that,  for  a 
steady  progress  in  the  obedience  of  the  gospel,  many 
persevere,  to  the  end  of  their  days,  in  a  wretched 
course  of  sinning  and  of  sorrowing,  without  fruit 
and  without  amendment. 

To  save  the  practically  mischievous  effect  arising 
from  the  application  of  one  term  to  two  different 
things,  one  distinct  and  appropriate  term  has  been 
suggested  lor  the  saving  repentance  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  term  repentance  itself  has  been 
restricted  to  the  repentance  of  mere  sorrow,  and  is 
made  equivalent  to  regret;  and  for  the  other,  able 
translators  have  adopted  the  word  reformation.  The 
one  is  expressive  of  sorrow  for  our  past  conduct; 
the  other  is  expressive  of  our  renouncing  it.  It  de- 
notes an  actual  turning  from  the  habits  of  life  that 
we  are  sorry  for.  Give  us,  say  they,  a  change  from 
bad  deeds  to  good  deeds,  from  bad  habits  to  good 
habits,  from  a  life  of  wickedness  to  a  life  of  confor- 
mity to  the  requirements  of  heaven,  and  you  give 
us  reformation. 

Now  there  is  often  nothing  more  unprofitable 
than  a  dispute  about .  words;  but  if  a  word  has  got 
into  common  use,  a  common  and  generally  under- 
stood meaning  is  attached  to  it;  and  if  this  mean- 
ing does  not  just  come  up  to  the  thing  which  Ave 
want  to  express  by  it,  the  application  of  that  word 
to  that  thing  has  the  same  misleading  effects  as  in 
the  case  already  alluded  to.  Now,  we  have  much 
the  same  kind  of  exception  to  allege  against  the  term 
reformation,  that  we  have  alleged  against  the  term 
repentance.  The  term  repentance  is  inadequate — 
and  why?  because,  in  the  common  use  of  it,  it  is 


equivalent  to  regret,  and  regret  is  short  of  the  saving 
change  that  is  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament. 
On  the  very  same  principle,  we  count  the  term  re- 
formation to  be  inadequate.  We  think  that,  in  com- 
mon language,  a  man  would  receive  the  appellation 
of  a  reformed  man  upon  the  mere  change  of  his  out- 
ward habits,  without  any  reference  to  the  change  of 
mind  and  of  principle  which  gave  rise  to  it.  Let  the 
drunkard  give  up  his  excesses — let  the  backbiter 
give  up  his  evil  speakings — let  the  extortioner  give 
up  his  unfair  charges — and  we  would  apply  to  one 
and  all  of  them,  upon  the  mere  change  of  their  ex- 
ternal doings,  the  character  of  reformed  men.  Now, 
it  is  evident  that  the  drunkard  may  give  up  his 
drunkenness,  because  checked  by  a  serious  impres- 
sion of  the  injury  he  has  been  doing  to  his  health 
and  his  circumstances.  The  backbiter  may  give 
up  his  evil  speaking,  on  being  made  to  perceive  that 
the  hateful  practice  has  brought  upon  him  the  con- 
tempt and  alienation  of  his  neighbours.  The  ex- 
tortioner may  give  up  his  unfair  charges,  upon  tak- 
ing it  into  calculation  that  his  business  is  likely  to 
suffer  by  the  desertion  of  his  customers.  Now,  it  is 
evident,  that  though  in  each  of  these  cases  there  has 
been  wh^t  the  world  would  call  reformation,  there 
has  not  been  scriptural  repentance.  The  deficiency 
of  this  term  consists  in  its  having  been  employed  to 
denote  a  mere  change  in  the  deeds  or  in  the  habits 
of  the  outward  man;  and  if  employed  as  equivalent 
to  repentance,  it  may  delude  us  into  the  idea  that 
the  change  by  which  we  are  made  meet  for  a  happy 
eternity  is  a  far  more  slender  and  superficial  thing 
than  it  really  is.  It  is  of  little  importance  to  be  told 
that  the  translator  means  it  only  in  the  sense  01  a 
reformed  conduct,  proceeding  from  the  inrluenceof 
a  new  and  a  right  principle  within.  The  common 
meaning  of  the  word  will,  as  in  the  former  instance, 
be  ever  and  anon  intruding  itself,  and  get  the  better 
of  all  the  formal  cautions,  and  all  the  qualifying 
clauses  of  our  Bible  commentators. 


^     or  the       T    ; 

[UtflVIT-SITT 


But,  will  not  the  original  itarcjr^tsejf  throw  some 
light  upon  this  important  quesrl^n>«trjie  repentance 
which  is  enjoined  as  a  duty — the  repentance  -which 
is  unto  salvation — the  repentance  which  sinners  un- 
dergo when  they  pass  to  a  state  of  acceptance  with 
God  from  a  state  of  enmity  against  him — these  are 
all  one  and  the  same  thing,  and  are  expressed  by  one 
and  the  same  word  in  the  original  language  of  the 
New  Testament.  It  is  different  from  the  word 
which  expresses  the  repentance  of  sorrow;  and  if 
translated  according  to  the  parts  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed, it  signifies  neither  more  nor  less  than  a 
change  of  mind.  This  of  itself  is  sufficient  to  prove 
the  inadequacy  of  the  term  reformation — a  term 
which  is  often  applied,  to  a  man  upon  the  mere 
change  of  his  conduct,  without  ever  adverting  to  the 
state  of  his  mind,  or  to  the  kind  of  change  in  motive 
and  in  principle  which  it  has  undergone.  It  is  true, 
that  there  can  be  no  change  in  the  conduct  without 
some  change  in  the  inward  principle.  A  reformed 
drunkard,  before  careless  about  health  or  fortune, 
may  be  so  far  changed  as  to  become  impressed  with 
these  considerations;  but  this  change  is  evidently 
short  of  that  which  the  Bible  calls  repentance  to- 
ward God.  It  is  a  change  that  may,  and  has  taken 
place  in  many  a  mind,  when  there  was  no  effectual 
sense  of  the  God  who  is  above  us,  and  of  the  eter- 
nity which  is  before  us.  It  is  a  change,  brought 
about  by  the  prospect  and  the  calculation  of  worldly 
advantages;  and,  in  the  enjoyment  of  these  advan- 
tages, it  hath  its  sole  reward.  But  it  is  not  done 
unto  God,  and  God  will  not  accept  of  it  as  done  unto 
him.  Reformation  mav  signify  nothing  more  than 
the  mere  suriace-dressi ng  of  those  decencies,  and 
proprieties,  and  accomplishments,  and  civil  and  pru- 
dential duties,  which,  however  fitted  to  secure  a 
man's  acceptance  in  society,  may,  one  and  all  of 
them,  consist  with  a  heart  alienated  from  God,  and 
having  every  principle  and  affection  of  the  inner 
man  away  from  him.     True  it  is,  such  a  change 


as  the  man  will  reap  benefit  from,  as  his  friends  will 
rejoice  in,  as  the  world  will  call  reformation;  but  it 
is  not  such  a  change  as  will  make  him  meet  for 
heaven,  and  is  deficient  in  its  import  from  what  our 
Saviour  speaks  of  when  he  says,  "  I  tell  you  nay, 
except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 

There  is  no  single  word  in  the  English  language 
which  occurs  to  us  as  fully  equal  to  the  faithful  ren- 
dering of  the  term  in  the  original.  Renewedness  of 
mind,  however  awkward  a  phrase  this  may  be,  is 
perhaps  the  most  nearly  expressive  of  it.  Certain 
it  is,  that  it  harmonizes  with  those  other  passages 
of  the  Bible  where  the  process  is  described  by  which 
saving  repentance  is  brought  about.  We  read  of 
being  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  our  minds,  of 
the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  being  renewed 
in  the  spirit  of  our  minds.  Scriptural  repentance, 
therefore,  is  that  deep  and  radical  change  whereby 
a  soul  turns  from  the  idols  of  sin  and  of  self  unto 
God,  and  devotes  every  movement  of  the  inner  and. 
the  outer  man,  to  the  captivity  of  his  obedience. 
This  is  the  change  which,  whether  it  be  expressed 
by  one  word  or  not  in  the  English  language,  we 
would  have  you  well  to  understand;  and  reform- 
ation or  change  in  the  outward  conduct,  instead 
of  being  saving  and  scriptural  repentance,  is  what, 
in  the  language  of  John  the  Baptist,  we  would  call 
a  fruit  meet  lor  it.  But  if  mischief  is  likely  to  arise, 
from  the  want  of  an  adequate  word  in  our  lan- 
guage, to  that  repentance  which  is  unto  salvation, 
there  is  one  effectual  preservative  against  it — a  linn 
and  consistent  exhibition  of  the  whole  counsel  and 
revelation  of  God.  A  man  who  is  well  read  in  his 
New  Testament,  and  reads  it  with  docility,  will 
dismiss  all  his  meagre  conceptions  of  repentance, 
when  he  comes  to  the  following  statements; — bi  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  horn  again,  he  cannot  see  the  king- 
dom of  God."  "Except  ye  he  converted,  and  be- 
come as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."     "  If  any  man  have  not  the 


Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his."  "  The  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God;  and  if  ye  live  after  the 
flesh,  ye  shall  die:  but  if  ye,  through  the  Spirit,  do 
mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live."  "  By 
the  washing  of  regeneration  ye  are  saved."  "  Be 
not  then  conformed  to  this  world,  but  be  ye  trans- 
formed by  the  renewing  of  your  minds."  Such  are 
the  terms  employed  to  describe  the  process  by  which 
the  soul  of  man  is  renewed  unto  repentance;  and, 
with  your  hearts  familiarized  to  the  mighty  im- 
port of  these  terms,  you  will  carry  with  you  an 
effectual  guarantee  against  those  false  and  flimsy  im- 
pressions, which  are  so  current  in  the  world,  about 
the  preparation  of  a  sinner  for  eternity. 

Another  delusion  which  we  shall  endeavour  to 
expose,  is  a  very  mischievous  application  of  the  par- 
able of  the  labourers  in  the  vineyard,  contained  in 
the  twentieth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  by  Matthew. 
The  interpretation  of  this  parable,  the  mischief  and 
delusion  of  which  we  shall  endeavour  to  lay  open,  is, 
that  it  relates  to  the  call  of  individuals,  and  to  the 
different  periods  in  the  age  of  each  individual  at 
which  this  call  is  accepted  by  them.  We  almost 
know  nothing  more  familiar  to  us,  both  in  the  works 
of  authors,  and  in  the  conversation  of  private  Chris- 
tians, than  when  the  repentance  of  an  aged  man  is 
the  topic,  it  is  represented  as  a  case  of  repentance  at 
the  eleventh  hour  of  the  day.  We  are  far  from 
disputing  the  possibility  of  such  a  repentance,  nor 
should  those  who  address  the  message  of  the  gospel 
ever  be  restrained  from  the  utterance  of  the  free  call 
of  the  gospel,  in  the  hearing  of  the  oldest  and  most 
inveterate  sinner  whom  they  may  meet  with.  But 
what  we  contend  for,  is,  that  this  is  not  the  drift  of 
the  parable.  The  parable  relates  to  the  call  of 
nations,  and  to  the  different  periods  in  the  age  of 
the  world  at  which  this  call  was  addressed  to  each 
of  them,  and  not  as  we  have  already  observed,  tq  the 
call  of  individuals,  and  to  the  different  periods  in 
the  age  of  each  individual,  at  which  this  call  is  ac- 


Xll 

cepted  by  them.*  It  is  not  true  that  the  labourers 
who  began  to  work  in  the  vineyard  on  the  first  hour 
of  the  clay,  denote  those  Christians  who  began  to 
remember  their  Creator,  and  to  render  the  obe- 
dience of  the  faith  unto  his  Gospel  with  their  first 
and  earliest  education.  It  is  not  true,  that  they 
who  entered  into  this  service  on  the  third  hour  of 
the  day,  denote  those  Christians,  who  after  a  boy- 
hood of  thoughtless  unconcern  about  the  things  of 
eternity,  are  arrested  in  the  season  of  youth,  by  a 
visitation  of  seriousness,  and  betake  themselves  •  to 
the  faith  and  the  following  of  the  Saviour  who  died 
ibr  them.     It  is  not  true,  that  they  who  were  hired 

*  To  render  our  argument  more  intelligible,  we  shall 
briefly  state  what  we  conceive  to  be  the  true  explanation 
of  the  parable.  In  the  verses  preceding  the  parable,  Pe- 
ter had  stated  the  whole  amount  of  the  surrender  that 
he  and  his  fellow  disciples  had  made  by  the  act  of  fol- 
lowing after  Jesus;  and  it  is  evident,  that  they  all  looked  for- 
ward to  some  great  and  temporal  remuneration — some  share 
in  the  glories  of  the  Israelitish  monarchy — some  place  of 
splendour  or  distinction  under  that  new  government,  which 
they  imagined  was  to  be  set  up  in  the  world;  and  they  nev- 
er conceived  any  thing  else,  than  that  in  this  altered  state 
of  tilings,  the  people  of  their  own  country  were  to  be  raised 
to  high  pre-eminence  among  the  nations  which  had  op- 
pressed and  degraded  them.  It  was  in  the  face  of  this  ex- 
pectation, that  our  Saviour  uttered  a  sentence,  which  we 
meet  oftener  than  once  among  his  recorded  sayings  in  the 
New  Testament,  "  Main  that  are  first  shall  be  last,  and 
the  last  shall  be  first."  The  Israelites,  whom  God  distin- 
guished at  an  early  period  of  the  world,  by  a  revelation  of 
himself,  were  first  invited  in  the  doing  «>f  his  will  (which  is 

fitly  enough  represented  by  working  in  his  vineyard)  to  the 

possession  of  his  favour,  and  the  enjoyment  of  his    rewards. 

This  offer  to  work  in  that  peculiar  vineyard,  where  God  as- 
signed to  them  a  performance,  and  bestowed  on  them  a  re- 
compense, was  made  to  Abraham  and  to  his  descendants  at 
a  very  early  period  in  history,  and  a  succession  ofprophetl 
and  righteous  mm  were  sent  to  renew  the  otter,  and  the 
communications  from  God  to  the  world,  followed  the  Btream 
of  ages,  down  to  the  time  of  the  utterance  of  this  parable. 
And  a  few  years  afterwards,  the  same  offers,  and  ihe  same 


on  the  sixth  and  ninth  hours,  denote  those  Chris- 
tians, who,  after  having  spent  the  prime  of  their 
youthful  vigour  in  alienation  from  God,  and  perhaps 
run  out  some  mad  career  of  guilt  and  profligacy,  put 
on  their  Christianity  along  with  the  decencies  of 
their  soher  and  established  manhood.  Neither  is  it 
true,  that  the  labourers  of  the  eleventh  hour,  the 
men  who  had  stood  all  day  idle,  represent  those 
aged  converts  who  have  put  off  their  repentance  to 
the  last — those  men  who  have  renounced  the  world 
when  they  could  not  help  it — those  men  who  have 
put  on  Christianity,  but  not  till  they  had  put  on 
their  wrinkles — those  men  who  have  run  the  varied 
stages  of  depravity,  from  the  frivolous  unconcern  of 

invitations,  were  addressed  to  another  people;  and  at  this 
late  period,  at  this  eleventh  hour,  the  men  of  those  countries 
which  had  never  before  been  visited  by  any  authoritative  call 
from  heaven,  had  this  call  lifted  up  in  their  hearing,  and 
many  Gentiles  accepted  that  everlasting  life,  of  which  the 
Jews  counted  themselves  unworthy.  And  as  to  the  people 
of  Israel,  who  valued  themselves  so  much  on  their  privi- 
leges— who  had  turned  all  the  revelations,  by  which  their 
ancestors  had  been  honoured,  into  a  matter  of  distinction 
and  of  vain  security — who  had  ever  been  in  the  habit  of 
eyeing  the  profane  Gentiles  with  all  that  contempt  which  is 
laid  upon  outcasts,  this  parable  received  its  fulfilment  at  the 
time  when  these  Gentiles,  by  their  acceptance  of  the  Sa- 
viour, were  exalted  to  an  equal  place  among  the  chiefest 
favourites  of  God;  and  these  Jews,  by  their  refusal  of  him, 
had  their  name  rooted  out  from  among  the  nations — and 
those  first  and  foremost  in  all  the  privileges  of  religion,  are 
now  become  the  last.  Now  this  we  conceive  to  be  the  real 
design  of  the  parable.  It  was  designed  to  reconcile  the 
minds  of  the  disciples  to  that  part  of  the  economy  of  God, 
which  was  most  offensive  to  their  hopes  and  to  their  pre- 
judices. It  asserted  the  sovereignty  of  the  Supreme  Being 
in  the  work  of  dispensing  his  calls  and  his  favours  among 
the  people  whom  he  had  formed.  It  furnished  a  most  de- 
cisive and  silencing  reproof  to  the  Jews,  who  were  filled 
with  envy  against  the  Gentiles;  and  who,  even  those  of  them 
that  embraced  the  Christian  profession,  made  an  obstinate 
struggle  against  the  admission  of  those  Gentiles  into  the 
church  on  equal  terms  with  themselves. 


XIV 

a  boy,  and  the  appalling  enormities  of  misled  and 
misguided  youth,  and  the  deep  and  determined  world- 
liness  of  middle  age,  and  the  clinging  avarice  of  him, 
who,  while  with  slow  and  tottering  footsteps  he  de- 
scends the  hill  of  life,  has  a  heart  more  obstinately 
set  than  ever  on  all  its  interests,  and  all  its  sordid 
accumulations,  but  who,  when  death  taps  at  the  door, 
awakens  from  his  dream,  and  thinks  it  now  time  to 
shake  away  his  idolatrous  affections  from  the  mam- 
mon of  unrighteousness. 

Such  are  the  men  who,  after  having  taken  their 
full  swing  of  all  that  the  world  could  offer,  and  of 
all  that  they  could  enjoy  of  it,  defer  the  whole  work 
of  preparation  for  eternity  to  old  age,  and  fbr  the 
hire  of  the  labourers  of  the  eleventh  hour,  do  all 
that  they  can  in  the  way  of  sighs,  and  sorrows,  and 
expiations  of  penitential  acknowledgement.  What! 
will  we  offer  to  liken  such  men  to  those  who  sought 
the  Lord  early,  and  who  found  him  ?  Will  we  say 
that  he  who  repents  when  old,  is  at  all  to  be  com- 
pared to  him,  who  bore  the  whole  heat  and  burden 
of  a  life  devoted  throughout  all  its  stages  to  the 
glory  and  the  remembrance  of  the  Creator?  Who, 
from  a  child,  trembled  at  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and 
aspired  after  a  conformity  to  all  his  ways?  Who, 
when  a  young  man,  fulfilled  that  most  appropriate 
injunction  of  the  apostle,  "  Be  thou  strong?"  Who 
fought  it  with  manly  determination  against  all  the 
enemies  of  principle  by  which  he  was  surrounded, 
and  spurned  the  enticements  of  vicious  acquaintances 
away  from  him;  and  nobly  stood  it  out,  even  though 
unsupported  and  alone,  against  the  unhallowed  con- 
tempt of  a  whole  multitude  of  ecorners;  and  with 
intrepid  defiance  to  all  the  assaults  of  ridicule,  main- 
tained a  firmness,  which  no  wile  could  seduce  from 
the  posts  of  vigilance;  and  cleared  his  unfaltering 
way  through  all  the  allurements  of  a  perverse  and 
crooked  generation.  Who,  even  in  the  midst  of  a 
most  withering  atmosphere  on  every  side  of  him, 
kept  all  his  purposes  unbroken,  and  all  his  delicacies 


untainted.  Who,  with  the  rigour  of  self-command, 
combined  the  softening  lustre  which  a  pure  and 
amiable  modesty  sheds  over  the  moral  complexion 
of  him  who  abhors  that  which  is  evil,  and  cleaves  to 
that  which  is  good,  with  all  the  energy  of  a  holy  de- 
termination. Can  that  be  a  true  interpretation, 
which  levels  this  youth  of  promise  and  of  accom- 
plishment, with  his  equal  in  years,  who  is  now  prose- 
cuting every  guilty  indulgence,  and  crowns  the  au- 
dacity of  his  rebellion  by  the  mad  presumption,  that 
ere  he  dies,  he  shall  be  able  to  propitiate  that  God, 
on  the  authority  of  all  whose  calls,  and  all  whose 
remonstrances  he  is  now  trampling?  Or  follow  each 
of  them  to  the  evening  of  their  earthly  pilgrimage — 
will  you  say  that  the  penitent  of  the  eleventh  hour, 
is  at  all  to  be  likened  to  him  who  has  given  the  whole 
of  his  existence  to  the  work  and  the  labour  of  Chris- 
tianity? to  him  who,  after  a  morning  of  life  adorned 
with  all  the  gracefulness  we  have  attempted  to  de- 
scribe, sustains  through  the  whole  of  his  subsequent 
history  such  a  high  and  ever  brightening  example, 
that  his  path  is  like  the  shining  light,  which  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day;  and  every  year 
he  lives,  the  graces  of  an  advancing  sanctification 
form  into  a  richer  assemblage  of  all  that  is  pure,  and 
lovely,  and  honourable,  and  of  good  report;  and 
when  old  age  comes,  it  brings  none  of  the  turbulence 
or  alarm  of  an  unfinished  preparation  along  with 
it — but  he  meets  death  with  the  quiet  assurance  of 
a  man  who  is  in  readiness,  and  hails  his  message  as 
a  friendly  intimation;  and  as  he  lived  in  the  splen- 
dour of  ever-increasing  acquirements,  so  he  dies  in 
all  the  radiance  of  anticipated  glory. 

This  interpretation  of  the  parable  cannot  be  sus- 
tained ;  and  we  think,  that,  out  of  its  own  mouth, 
a  condemnation  may  be  stamped  upon  it.  Mark 
this  peculiarity.  The  labourers  of  the  eleventh 
hour  are  not  men  who  got  the  offer  before,  but  men 
who  for  the  first  time  received  a  call  to  work  in  the 
vineyard;  and  they  may  therefore  well  represent  the 


people  of  a  country,  who,  for  the  first  time,  received 
the  overtures  of  the  Gospel.  The  answer  they 
gave  to  the  question,  Why  stand  you  so  long  idle? 
was,  that  no  man  had  hired  I  hem.  We  do  not  read 
of  any  of  the  labourers  of  the  third,  or  sixth,  or 
ninth  hours,  refusing  the  call  at  these  times,  and 
afterwards  rendering  a  compliance  with  the  evening 
call,  and  getting  the  penny  for  which  they  declined 
the  offer  of  working  several  hours,  but  afterwards 
agreed,  when  the  proposal  was  made,  that  they 
should  work  one  hour  only.  They  had  a  very  good 
answer  to  give,  in  excuse  for  their  idleness.  They 
never  had  been  called  before.  And  the  oldest  men 
of  a  Pagan  country  have  the  very  same  answer  to 
give,  on  the  first  arrival  of  Christian  missionaries 
amongst  them.  But  we  have  no  part  nor  lot  in  this 
parable.  We  have  it  not  in  our  power  to  offer  any 
such  apology.  There  is  not  one  of  us  who  can  ex- 
cuse the  impenitency  of  the  past,  on  the  plea  that  no 
man  had  called  us.  This  is  a  call  that  has  been 
sounded  in  our  ears,  from  our  very  infancy.  Every 
time  we  have  seen  a  bible  in  our  shelves,  we  have 
had  a  call.  Every  time  we  have  heard  a  minister 
in  the  pulpit,  we  have  had  a  call.  Every  time  we 
have  heard  the  generous  invitation,  "  Ho,  every  one 
that  thirsteth,  come  ye  unto  the  waters,"  we  have 
had  a  solemn,  and  what  ought  to  have  been  a  most 
impressive,  call.  Every  time  that  a  parent  has 
piied  us  with  a  good  advice,  Qr  a  neighbour  come 
forward  with  a  friendly  persuasion,  we  have  had  a 
call.  Every  time  that  the  Sabbath  bell  has  rung 
torus  to  the  house  of  God,  we  have  had  a  call. 
These  are  all  so  many  distinct  and  repeated  calls. 
These  are  past  events  in  our  life,  which  rise  in  judg- 
ment against  us,  and  remind  us,  with  a  justice  nf 
argument,  that  there  is  no  evading)  that  we  have  no 
ri«rht  whatever  to  the  privileges  of  the  eleventh 
hour. 

This,  then,  is  the  train  to  which  we  feel  ourselves 
directed  by  this  parable.     The  mischievous  interpre- 


tation  which  has  been  put  upon  it,  has  wakened  up 
our  alarms,  and  set  us  to  look  at  the  delusion  which 
it  fosters,  and,  if  possible,  to  drag  out  to  the  light  of 
day,  the  fallacy  which  lies  in  it.  We  should  like  to 
reduce  every  man  to  the  feeling  of  the  alternative  of 
repentance  now,  or  repentance  never.  We  should 
like  to  flash  it  upon  your  convictions,  that,  by  put- 
ting the  call  away  from  you  now,  you  put  your  eter- 
nity away  from  you.  We  should  like  to  expose  the 
whole  amount  of  that  accursed  infatuation  which 
lies  in  delay.  We  should  like  to  arouse  every  soul 
out  of  its  lethargies,  and  giving  no  quarter  to  the 
plea  of  a  little  more  sleep,  and  a  little  more  slumber, 
we  should  like  you  to  feel  as  if  the  whole  of  your 
future  destiny  hinged  on  the  very  first  movement  to 
which  you  turned  yourselves. 

The  work  of  repentance  must  have  a  beginning; 
and  we  should  like  you  to  know,  that,  if  not  begun 
to-day,  the  chance  will  be  less  of  its  being  begun 
to-morrow.  And  if  the  greater  chance  has  failed, 
what  hope  can  we  build  upon  the  smaller? — and 
a  chance  too  that  is  always  getting  smaller.  Each 
day,  as  it  revolves  over  the  sinner's  head,  finds  him  a 
harder,  and  a  more  obstinate,  and  a  more  helplessly 
enslaved  sinner,  than  before.  It  was  this  considera- 
tion which  gave  Richard  Baxter  such  earnestness 
and  such  urgency  in  his  "  Call."  He  knew  that  the 
barrier  in  the  way  of  the  sinner's  return,  was 
strengthened  by  every  act  of  resistance  to  the  call 
which  urges  it.  That  the  refusal  of  this  moment 
hardened  the  man  against  the  next  attack  of  a  Gospel 
argument  that  is  brought  to  bear  upon  him.  That 
if  he  attempted  you  now,  and  he  failed,  when  he 
came  back  upon  you,  he  would  find  himself  working 
on  a  more  obstinate  and  uncomplying  subject  than 
ever.  And  therefore  it  is,  that  he  ever  feels  as  if  the 
present  were  his  only  opportunity.  That  he  is  now 
upon  his  vantage  ground,  and  he  gives  every  energy 
of  his  soul  to  the  great  point  of  making  the  most  of 
it.     He  will  put  up  with  none  of  your  evasions.     He 


will  consent  to  none  of  your  postponements.  He 
will  pay  respect  to  none  of  your  more  convenient 
seasons.  He  tells  you,  that  the  matter  with  which 
he  is  charged,  has  al!  the  urgency  of  a  matter  in  hand. 
He  speaks  to  you  with  as  much  earnestness  as  if  he 
knew  that  you  were  going  to  step  into  eternity  in 
half  an  hour.  He  delivers  his  message  with  as  much 
solemnity  as  if  he  knew  that  this  was  your  last  meet- 
ing on  earth,  and  that  you  were  never  to  see  each 
other  till  you  stood  together  at  the  judgment-seat. 
He  knew  that  some  mighty  change  must  take  place 
in  you,  ere  you  be  fit  for  entering  into  the  presence 
of  God;  and  that  the  time  in  which,  on  every  plea 
of  duty  and  of  interest,  you  should  bestir  yourselves 
to  secure  this,  is  the  present  time.  This  is  the 
distinct  point  he  assigns  to  himself;  and  the  whole 
drift  of  his  argument,  is  to  urge  an  instantaneous 
choice  of  the  better  part,  by  telling  you  how  you 
multiply  every  day  the  obstacles  to  your  future  re- 
pentance, if  you  begin  not  the  work  of  repentance 
now. 

Before  bringing  our  Essay  to  a  close,  we  shall 
make  some  observations  on  the  mistakes  concerning 
repentance  which  we  have  endeavoured  to  expose, 
and  adduce  some  arguments  for  urging  on  the  con- 
sciences of  our  readers  the  necessity  and  importance 
of  immediate  repentance. 

1.  The  work  of  repentance  is  a  work  which  must 
be  done  ere  we  die;  for,  unless  we  repent,  we  shall 
all  likewise  perish.  Now,  the  easier  this  work  is 
in  our  conception,  we  will  think  it  the  less  necessary 
to  enter  upon  it  immediately.  We  will  look  upon 
it  as  a  work  that  may  be  done  at  any  time,  and  let 
us,  therefore,  put  it  oil"  a  little  longer,  and  a -little 
longer.  We  will  perhaps  look  forward  to  taat  re- 
tirement from  the  world  and  its  temptations  which 
we  figure  old  age  to  bring  along  with  it,  and  falling 
in  with  the  too  common  idea,  that  the  evening  of 
life  is  the  appropriate  season  of  preparation  for  anoth- 
er world,  we  will  think  that  the  author  is  bearing 


too  closely  and  too  urgently  upon  us,  when,  in  the 
language  of  the  Bible,  he  speaks  of  "  to-day,"  while 
it  is  called  to-da}^  and  will  let  us  off  with  no  other  re- 
pentance than  repentance  "  now" — seeing  that  now 
only  is  the  accepted  time,  and  now  only  the  day  of 
salvation,  which  he  has  a  warrant  to  proclaim  to  us. 
This  dilatory  way  of  it  is  very  much  favoured  by  the 
mistaken  and  very  defective  view  of  repentance  which 
we  have  attempted  to  expose.  We  have  some  how 
or  other  got  into  the  delusion,  that  repentance  is  sor- 
row, and  little  else;  and  were  we  called  to  fix  upon 
the  scene  where  this  sorrow  is  likely  to  be  felt  in  the 
degree  that  is  deepest  and  most  overwhelming,  we 
would  point  to  the  chamber  of  the  dying  man.  It 
is  awful  to  think  that,  generally  speaking,  this  re- 
pentance of  mere  sorrow  is  the  only  repentance  of  a 
deathbed.  Yes !  we  will  meet  with  sensibility  deep 
enough  and  painful  enough  there — with  regret  in  all 
its  bitterness — with  terror  mustering  up  its  images 
of  despair,  and  dwelling  upon  them  in  all  the  gloom 
of  an  affrighted  imagination;  and  this  is  mistaken,  not 
merely  for  the  drapery  of  repentance,  but  for  the 
very  substance  of  it.  We  look  forward,  and  we 
count  upon  this — that  the  sins  of  a  life  are  to  be  ex- 
punged by  the  sighing  and  the  sorrowing  of  the  last 
days  of  it.  We  should  give  up  this  wretchedly 
superficial  notion  of  repentance,  and  cease,  from  this 
moment,  to  be  led  astray  by  it.  The  mind  may  sor- 
row over  its  corruptions  at  the  very  time  that  it  is 
under  the  power  of  them.  To  grieve  because  we 
are  under  the  captivity  of  sin  is  one  thing — to  be  re- 
leased from  that  captivity  is  another.  A  man  may 
weep  most  bitterly  over  the  perversities  of  his  moral 
constitution;  but  to  change  that  constitution  is  a 
different  affair.  Now,  this  is  the  mighty  work  of 
repentance.  He  who  has  undergone  it  is  no  longer 
the  servant  of  sin.  He  dies  unto  sin,  he  lives  unto 
God.  A  sense  of  the  authority  of  God  is  ever  pres- 
ent with  him,  to  wield  the  ascendency  of  a  great 
master-principle  over  all  his  movements — to  call  forth 


XX 

every  purpose,  and  to  carry  it  forward,  through  all  the 
opposition  of  sin  and  of  Satan,  into  accomplishment. 
Tins  is  the  grand  revolution  in  the  state  of  the  mind 
which  repentance  brings  along  with  it.  To  grieve 
because  this  work  is  not  done,  is  a  very  different 
thing  from  the  doing  of  it.  A  deathbed  is  the  very 
best  scene  for  acting  the  first;  but  it  is  the  very  worst 
for  acting  the  second.  The  repentance  of  Judas  has 
often  been  acted  there.  We  ought  to  think  of  the 
work  in  all  its  magnitude,  and  not  to  put  it  off  to 
that  awful  period  when  the  soul  is  crowded  with 
other  things,  and  has  to  maintain  its  weary  struggle 
with  the  pains,  and  the  distresses,  and  the  shiver- 
ings,  and  the  breathless  agonies  of  a  deathbed. 

2.  There  are  two  views  that  may  be  taken  of  the 
way  in  which  repentance  is  brought  about,  and  which- 
ever of  them  is  adopted,  delay  carries  along  with  it 
the  saddest  infatuation.  It  may  be  looked  upon  as 
a  step  taken  by  man  as  a  voluntary  agent,  and  we 
would  ask  you,  upon  your  experience  of  the  powers 
and  the  performances  of  humanity,  if  a  deathbed  is 
the  time  for  taking  such  a  step  ?  Is  this  a  time  for 
a  voluntary  being  exercising  a  vigorous  control  over 
his  own  movements?  When  racked  with  pain,  and 
borne  down  by  the  pressure  of  a  sore  and  over- 
whelming calamity  ?  Surely  the  greater  the  work  of 
repentance  is,  the  more  ease,  the  more  time,  the  more 
freedom  from  suffering,  is  necessary  for  carrying  it  on; 
and,  therefore,  addressing  you  as  voluntary  beings, 
as  beings  who  will  and  who  do,  we  call  upon  yon  lo 
seek  God  early  that  you  may  find  him — to  haste, 
and  make  no  delay  in  keeping  his  commandments. 
The  other  view  is,  that  repentance  is  not  a  self- 
originating  work  in  man,  but  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  him  as  the  subject  of  its  influences.  This 
uVw  is  not  opposite  to  the  former.  It  is  true  that 
(linn  wills  and  does  at  every  step  in  the  business  of 
bis  salvation;  and  it  is  as  true  that  God  works  in 
him  so  to  will  and  to  do.  Take  this  last  view  of 
it  then.     Look  on  repentance  as  the  work  of  God^a 


Spirit  in  the  soul  of  man,  and  we  are  furnished  with 
a  more  impressive  argument  than  ever,  and  set  on 
higher  vantage  for  urging  you  to  stir  yourselves,  and 
set  about  it  immediately.  What  is  it  that  you  pro- 
pose? To  keep  by  your  present  habits,  and  your 
]) resent  indulgences — and  build  yourselves  up  all  the 
while  in  the  confidence  that  the  Spirit  will  interpose 
with  his  mighty  power  of  conversion  upon  you,  at  the 
very  point  of  time  that  you  have  fixed  upon  as  conve- 
nient and  agreeable?  And  how  do  you  conciliate  the 
Spirit's  answer  to  your  call  then?  Why,  by  doing  ail 
you  can  to  grieve,  and  to  quench,  and  to  provoke  him 
to  abandon  you  now.  Do  you  feel  a  motion  towards 
repentance  at  this  moment?  If  you  keep  it  alive, 
and  act  upon  it,  good  and  well.  But  if  you  smother 
and  suppress  this  motion,  you  resist  the  Spirit — you 
stillc  his  movements  within  you:  it  is  what  the  im- 
penitent do  day  after  day,  and  year  after  year — and 
is  this  the  way  for  securing  the  influences  of  the  Spirit 
at  the  time  that  you  would  like  them  best?  When 
you  are  done  with  the  world,  and  are  looking  forward 
to  eternity  because  you  cannot  help  it?  God  says, 
"  My  Spirit  will  not  always  strive  with  the  children 
of  men."  A  good  and  a  free  Spirit  he  undoubtedly 
is,  and,  as  a  proof  of  it,  he  is  now  saying,  "  Let 
whosoever  will,  come  and  drink  of  the  water  of  life 
freely."  He  says  so  now,  but  we  do  not  promise 
that  he  will  say  so  with  eflect  upon  your  deathbeds, 
if  you  refuse  him  now.  You  look  forward  then  for 
a  powerful  work  of  conversion  being  done  upon  you, 
and  yet  you  employ  yourselves  all  your  life  long  in  rais- 
ing and  multiplying  obstacles  against  it.  You  count 
upon  a  miracle  of  grace  before  you  die,  and  the  way 
you  take  to  make  yourselves  sure  of  it,  is  to  grieve  and 
offend  him  while  you  live,  who  alone  can  perform  the 
miracle.  O  what  cruel  deceits  will  sin  land  us  in ! 
and  how  artfully  it  pleads  for  a  "  little  more  sleep, 
and  a  little  more  slumber;  a  little  more  folding  of 
the  hands  to  sleep."  We  should  hold  out  no  longer, 
nor  make  not  such  an  abuse  of  the  forbearance  of 


XX11 

God:  we  will  treasure  up  wrath  against  the  day  of 
wrath  if  we  do  so.  The  genuine  effect  of  his  good- 
ness is  to  lead  to  repentance;  let  not  its  effect  upon 
us  be  to  harden  and  encourage  ourselves  in  the  ways 
of  sin.  We  should  cry  now  for  the  clean  heart  and 
the  right  spirit;  and  such  is  the  exceeding  freeness 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  we  will  be  listened  to. 
If  we  put  off  the  cry  till  then,  the  same  God  may 
laugh  at  our  calamity,  and  mock  when  our  fear 
cometh. 

3.  Our  next  argument  for  immediate  repentance 
is,  that  we  cannot  bring  forward,  at  any  future  period 
of  your  history,  any  considerations  of  a  more  pre- 
vailing or  more  powerfully  moving  influence  than 
those  we  may  bring  forward  at  this  moment.  We 
can  tell  you  now  of  the  terrors  of  the  Lord.  We  can 
tell  you  now  of  the  solemn  mandates  which  have  is- 
sued from  his  throne — and  the  authority  of  which  is 
upon  one  and  all  of  you.  We  can  tell  you  now,  that 
though,  in  this  dead  and.  darkened  world,  sin  appears 
but  a  very  trivial  affair — for  every  body  sins,  and  it 
is  shielded  from  execration  by  the  universal  counte- 
nance of  an  entire  species  lying  in  wickedness — yet  it 
holds  true  of  God,  what  is  so  emphatically  said  of 
him,  that  he  cannot  be  mocked,  nor  will  he  endure  it 
that  you  should  riot  in  the  impunity  of  your  wilful 
resistance  to  him  and  to  his  warnings.  We  can  tell 
you  now,  that  he  is  a  God  of  vengeance;  and  though, 
ibr  a  season,  he  is  keeping  back  all  the  thunders  of  it 
from  a  world  that  he  would  like  to  reclaim  unto  him- 
self, yet,  if  you  put  all  his  expostulations  away  from 
vou,  and  will  not  be  reclaimed,  these  thunders  will  be 
'lei  loose  upon  you,  and  they  will  fall  on  your  guilty 
beads,  armed  with  tenfold  energy,  because  you  have 
not  only  defied  his  threats,  'but  turned  your  back  on 
his  oilers  of  reconciliation.  These  are  the  arguments 
by  which  we  would  try  to  Open  our  way  to  your 
consciences,  and  to  waken  up  your  tears,  and  to  put 
the  inspiring  activity  of  hope  into  your  bosoms,  by 
laying  before  you  those  invitations  which  are  address- 


ed  to  the  sinner,  through  the  peace-speaking  blood  of 
Jesus,  and,  in  the  name  of  a  beseeching  God,  to  win 
your  acceptance  of  them.  At  no  future  period  can 
we  address  arguments  more  powerful  and  more  affec- 
ting than  these.  If  these  arguments  do  not  prevail 
upon  you,  we  know  of  none  others  by  which  a  victo- 
ry over  the  stubborn  and  uncomplying  will  can  be 
accomplished,  or  by  which  we  can  ever  hope  to  beat 
in  that  sullen  front  of  resistance  wherewith  you  now 
so  impregnably  withstand  us.  We  feel  that,  if  any 
stout-hearted  sinner  shall  rise  from  the  perusal  of 
these  Treatises  with  an  unawakened  conscience,  and 
give  himself  to  an  act  of  wilful  disobedience,  we  feel 
as  if,  in  reference  to  him,  we  had  made  our  last  dis- 
charge, and  it  fell  powerless  as  water  spilt  on  the 
ground,  that  cannot  be  gathered  up  again.  We 
would  not  cease  to  ply  him  with  our  arguments,  and 
tell  him,  to  the  hour  of  death,  of  the  Lord  God,  mer- 
ciful and  gracious,  who  is  not  willing  that  any  should 
perish,  but  that  all  should  turn  to  him,  and  live.  And 
if  in  future  life  we  should  meet  him  at  the  eleventh 
hour  of  his  dark  and  deceitful  day — a  hoary  sinner, 
sinking  under  the  decrepitude  of  age,  and  bending  on 
the  side  of  the  grave  that  is  open  to  receive  him — 
even  then  we. would  testify  the  exceeding  freeness  of 
the  grace  of  God,  and  implore  his  acceptance  of  it. 
But  how  could  it  be  away  from  our  minds  that  he  is 
not  one  of  the  evening  labourers  of  the  parable? 
We  had  met  with  him  at  former  periods  of  his  exist- 
ence, and  the  offer  we  make  him  now  we  made  him 
then,  and  he  did  what  the  labourers  of  the  third,  and 
sixth,  and  ninth  hours  of  the  parable  did  not  do — he 
rejected  our  call  to  hire  him  into  the  vineyard;  and 
this  heartless  recollection,  if  it  did  not  take  all  our 
energy  away  from  us,  would  leave  us  little  else  than 
the  energy  of  despair.  And  therefore  it  is,  that  we 
speak  to  you  now  as  if  this  was  our  last  hold  of  you. 
We  feel  as  if  on  your  present  purpose  hung  all  the 
preparations  of  your  future  life,  and  all  the  rewards 
or  all  the  horrors  of  your  coming  eternity.     We  will 


not  let  you  off  with  any  other  repentance  than  re- 
pentance now;  and  if  this  be  refused  now,  we  cannot, 
with  our  eyes  open  to  the  consideration  we  have  now 
urged,  that  the  instrument  we  make  to  hear  upon 
you  afterwards  is  not  more  powerful  than  we  are 
wielding  now,  coupled  with  another  consideration 
which  we  shall  insist  upon,  that  the  subject  on  which 
the  instrument  worketh,  even  the  heart  of  man,  gath- 
ers, by  every  act  of  resistance,  a  more  uncomplying 
obstinacy  than  before;  we  cannot,  with  these  two 
thoughts  in  our  mind,  look  forward  to  your  future 
history,  without  seeing  spread  over  the  whole  path 
of  it  the  iron  of  a  harder  impenitency — the  sullen 
gloom  of  a  deeper  and  more  determined  alienation. 

4.  Another  argument,  therefore,  for  immediate 
repentance  is,  that  the  mind  which  resists  a  present 
call  or  a  present  reproof,  undergoes  a  progressive 
hardening  towards  all  those  considerations  which 
arm  the  call  of  repentance  with  all  its  energy. 
It  is  not  enough  to  say,  that  the  instrument  by 
which  repentance  is  brought  about,  is  not  more 
powerful  to-morrow  than  it  is  to  day;  it  lends  a 
most  tremendous  weight  to  the  argument,  to  say 
further,  that  the  subject  on  which  this  instrument 
is  putting  forth  its  efficiency,  will  oppose  a  firmer  re- 
sistance to-morrow  than  it  does  to-day.  It  is  this 
which  gives  a  significancy  so  powerful  to  the  call  of 
"  To-day  while  it  is  to-day,  harden  not  your  hearts;" 
and  to  the  admonition  of  "  Knowest  thou  not,  O 
man,  that  the  goodness  of  God  leadeth  thee  to  re- 
pentance; but  after,  thy  hardness  and  impenitent 
heart  treasurest  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath 
and  revelation  of  the  righteous  judgments  of  God? " 
It  is  not  said,  either  in  the  one  or  in  the  other  of 
these  passages,  that,  by  the  present  refusal,  you  cut 
yourself  off  from  a  future  invitation.  The  invita- 
tion may  be  sounded  in  your  hearing  to  the  last  half 
hour  of  your  earthly  existence,  engraved  in  all  those 
characters  of  freehand  gratuitous  kindness  which 
mark  the  beneficent  religion  of  the  New  Testament. 


But  the  present  refusal  hardens  you  against  the 
power  and  tenderness  of  the  future  invitation.  This 
is  the  fact  in  human  nature  to  which  these  passages 
seem  to  point,  and  it  is  the  fact  through  which  the 
argument  for  immediate  repentance  receives  such 
powerful  aid  from  the  wisdom  of  experience.  It 
is  this  which  forms  the  most  impressive  proof  of 
the  necessity  of  plying  the  young  with  all  the  weight 
and  all  the  tenderness  of  earnest  admonition,  that 
the  now  susceptible  mind  might  not  turn  into  a  sub- 
stance harder  and  more  uncomplying  than  the  rock 
which  is  broken  in  pieces  by  the  powerful  applica- 
tion of  the  hammer  of  the  word  of  God. 

The  metal  of  the  human  soul,  so  to  speak,  is  like 
some  material  substances.  If  the  force  you  lay 
upon  it  do  not  break  it,  or  dissolve  it,  it  will  beat  it 
into  hardness.  If  the  moral  argument  by  which  it 
is  plied  now,  do  not  so  soften  the  mind  as  to  carry 
and  to  overpower  its  purposes,  then,  on  another  day, 
the  argument  may  be  put  forth  in  terms  as  impres- 
sive— but  it  falls  on  a  harder  mind,  and,  therefore, 
with  a  more  slender  efficiency.  If  the  threat,  that 
ye  who  persist  in  sin  shall  have  to  dwell  with  the  de- 
vouring fire,  and  to  lie  down  amid  everlasting  burn- 
ings, do  not  alarm  you  out  of  your  iniquities  from 
this  very  moment,  then  the  same  threat  may  be 
again  cast  out,  and  the  same  appalling  circumstances 
of  terror  be  thrown  around  it,  but  it  is  all  discharged 
on  a  soul  hardened  by  its  inurement  to  the  thunder 
of  denunciations  already  uttered,  and  the  urgency  of 
menacing  threatenings  already  poured  forth  without 
fruit  and  without  efficacy.  If  the  voice  of  a  be- 
seeching God  do  not  win  upon  you  now,  and  charm 
you  out  of  your  rebellion  against  him,  by  the  per- 
suasive energy  of  kindness,  then  let  that  voice  be 
lifted  in  your  hearing  on  some  future  day,  and 
though  armed  with  all  the  power  of  tenderness  it 
ever  had,  how  shall  it  find  its  entrance  into  a  heart 
sheathed  by  the  operation  of  habit,  that  universal 
law,  in  more  impenetrable  obstinacy?  l^  with  the 
3 


XXVI 

earliest  dawn  of  your  understanding,  you  have  been 
offered  the  hire  of  the  morning  labourer  and  have 
refused  it,  then  the  parable  does  not  say  that  you 
are  the  person  who  at  the  third,  or  sixth,  or  ninth, 
or  eleventh  hour,  will  get  the  offer  repeated  to  you. 
It  is  true,  that  the  offer  is  unto  all  and  upon  ail  who 
are  within  reach  of  the  hearing  of  it.  But  there  is 
all  the  difference  in  the  world  between  the  impression 
of  a  new  offer,  and  of  an  offer  that  has  already  been 
often  heard  and  as  often  rejected — an  offer  which 
comes  upon  you  with  all  the  familiarity  of  a  well- 
known  sound  that  you  have  already  learned  how  to 
dispose  of,  and  how  to  shut  your  every  feeling 
against  the  power  of  its  gracious  invitations — an 
offer  which,  if  discarded  from  your  hearts  at  the 
present  moment,  may  come  back  upon  you,  but 
which  will  have  to  maintain  a  more  unequal  con- 
test than  before,  with  an  impenitency  ever  strength- 
ening, and  ever  gathering  new  hardness  from  each 
successive  act  of  resistance.  And  thus  it  is  that  the 
point  for  which  we  are  contending  is  not  to  carry 
you  at  some  future  period  of  your  lives,  but  to  carry 
you  at  this  moment.  It  is  to  work  in  you  the  instan- 
taneous purpose  of  a  firm  and  a  vigorously  sustained 
repentance;  it  is  to  put  into  you  all  the  freshness  <»f 
an  immediate  resolution,  and  to  stir  you  up  to  all 
the  readiness  of  an  immediate  accomplishment — it  is 
to  give  direction  to  the  very  first  footstep  you  are  now 
to  take,  and  lead  you  to  take  it  as  the  commencement 
of  that  holy  career,  in  which  all  old  things  are  done 
away,  and  all  things  become  new — it  is  to  press  it 
upon  you,  that  the  state  of  the  alternative,  at  this 
moment,  is  "  now  or  never" — it  is  to  prove  how  fear- 
ful the  odds  are  against  you,  if  now  you  sutler  the  call 
of  repentance  to  light  upon  your  consciences,  and  still 
keep  by  your  determined  posture  of  careless,  and 
thoughtless,  and  thankless  unconcern  about  God. 
You  have  resisted  to-day.  and  by  that  resistance  you 
have  acquired  a  firmer  metal  of  resistance  against 
the  power  of  every  future  warning  that  may  be 


brought  to  bear  upon  you.  You  have  stood  your 
ground  against  the  urgency  of  the  most  earnest  ad- 
monitions, and  against  the  dreadfulness  of  the  most 
terrifying  menaces.  On  that  ground  you  have  fixed 
yourself  more  immovably  than  before;  and  though 
on  some  future  day  the  same  spiritual  thunder  be 
made  to  play  around  you,  it  will  not  shake  you  out 
of  the  obstinacy  of  your  determined  rebellion. 

It  is  the  universal  law  of  habit,  that  the  feelings 
are  always  getting  more  faintly  and  feebly  impressed 
by  every  repetition  of  the  cause  which  excited  them, 
and  that  the  mind  is  always  getting  stronger  in  its 
active  resistance  to  the  impulse  of  these  feelings,  by 
every  new  deed  of  resistance  which  it  performs;  and 
thus  it  is,  that  if  you  refuse  us  now,  we  have  no  oth- 
er prospect  before  us  than  that  your  cause  is  every 
day  getting  more  desperate  and  more  irrecoverable, 
your  souls  are  getting  more  hardened,  the  Spirit  is 
getting  more  provoked  to  abandon  those  who  have  so 
long  persisted  in  their  opposition  to  his  movements. 
God,  who  says  that  his  Spirit  will  not  always  strive 
with  the  children  of  men,  is  getting  more  offended. 
The  tyranny  of  habit  is  getting  every  day  a  firmer 
ascendency  over  you;  Satan  is  getting  you  more  help 
lessly  involved  among  his  wiles  and  his  entanglements; 
the  world,  with  all  the  inveteracy  of  those  desii^s 
which  are  opposite  to  the  will  of  the  Father,  is  more 
and  more  lording  it  over  your  every  affection.  And 
what,  we  would  ask,  what  is  the  scene  in  which  you 
are  now  purposing  to  contest  it,  with  all  this  mighty 
force  of  opposition  you  are  now  so  busy  in  raising  up 
against  you?  What  is  the  field  of  combat  to  which 
you  are  now  looking  forward,  as  the  place  where  you 
are  to  accomplish  a  victory  over  all  those  formidable 
enemies  whom  you  are  at  present  arming  with  such 
a  weight  of  hostility,  as,  we  say,  within  a  single  hair- 
breadth of  certainty,  you  will  find  to  be  irresistible? 
0  the  bigness  of  such  a  misleading  infatuation!  The 
proposed  scene  in  which  this  battle  for  eternity  is  to 
be  fought,  and  this  victory  for  the  crown  of  glory  is  to 


1 


be  won,  is  a  deathbed.  It  is  when  the  last  messenger 
stands  by  the  couch  of  the  dying  man,  and  shakes  at 
him  the  terrors  of  his  grisly  countenance,  that  the 
poor  child  of  infatuation  thinks  he  is  to  struggle  and 
prevail  against  all  his  enemies;  against  the  unrelenting 
tyranny  of  habit — against  the  obstinacy  of  his  own 
heart,  which  he  is  now  doing  so  much  to  harden — 
against  the  Spirit  of  God  who  perhaps  long  ere  now 
has  pronounced  the  doom  upon  him,  "He  will  take  his 
own  way,  and  walk  in  his  own  counsel;  I  shall  cease 
from  striving,  and  let  him  alone" — against  Satan,  to 
whom  every  day  of  his  life  he  has  given  some  fresh 
advantage  over  him,  and  who  will  not  be  willing  to 
lose  the  victim  on  whom  he  has  practised  so  many 
wiles,  and  plied  with  success  so  many  delusions. 
And  such  are  the  enemies  whom  you,  who  wretch- 
edly calculate  on  the  repentance  of  the  eleventh 
hour,  are  every  day  mustering  up  in  greater  force  and 
formidableness  against  you;  and  how  can  we  think 
of  letting  you  go,  with  any  other  repentance  than 
the  repentance  of  the  precious  moment  that  is  now 
passing  over  you,  when  we  look  forward  to  the  hor- 
rors of  that  impressive  scene,  on  which  you  propose 
to  win  the  prize  of  immortality,  and  to  contest  it  sin- 
glehanded  and  alone,  with  all  the  weight  of  opp<  isition 
which  you  have  accumulated  against  yourselves — a 
deathbed — a  languid,  breathless,  tossing,  and  agita- 
ted deathbed;  that  scene  of  feebleness,  when  the 
poor  man  cannot  help  himself  to  a  single  mouthful — 
when  ho  must  have  attendants  to  sit  around  him, 
and  watch  his  every  wish,  and  interpret  his  every  sig- 
nal, and  turn  him  to  every  posture  where  he  may 
find  a  moments  ease,  and  wipe  away  the  cold  sweat 
that  is  running  over  him — and  ply  him  with  cordials 
for  thirst,  and  sickness,  and  insufferable  languor. 
And  this  is  the  time,  when  occupied  with  such  feel- 
ings, and  heset  with  such  agonies  as  these,  you  pro* 
pOtte  to  crowd  within  the  compass  ofa  lew  wretched 
days,  the  work  of  winding  up  the  concerns  of  a  neg- 
lected eternity ! 


5.  But  it  may  be  said,  if  repentance  be  what  you 
represent  it,  a  thing  of  such  mighty  import,  and  such 
impracticable  performance,  as  a  change  of  mind,  in 
what  rational  way  can  it  be  made  the  subject  of  a 
precept  or  an  injunction?  you  would  not  call  upon 
the  Ethiopian  to  change  his  skin — you  would  not  call 
upon  the  leopard  to  change  his  spots;  and  yet  you  call 
upon  us  to  change  our  minds.  You  say,  "  Repent;" 
and  that  too  in  the  face  of  the  undeniable  doctrine, 
that  man  is  without  strength  for  the  achievement  of 
so  mighty  an  enterprise.  Can  you  tell  us  any  plain 
and  practicable  thing  that  you  would  have  us  to  per- 
form, and  that  we  may  perform  to  help  on  this  busi- 
ness? This  is  the  very  question  with  which  the 
hearers  of  John  the  Baptist  came  back  upon  him, 
after  he  had  told  them  in  general  terms  to  repent, 
and  to  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance.  He 
may  not  have  resolved  the  difficulty,  but  he  pointed 
the  expectations  of  his  countrymen  to  a  greater  than 
he  for  the  solution  of  it.  Now  that  Teacher  has  al- 
ready come,  and  we  live  under  the  full  and  the  finish- 
ed splendour  of  his  revelation.  O  that  the  greatness 
and  difficulty  of  the  work  of  repentance,  had  the  ef- 
fect of  shutting  you  up  into  the  faith  of  Christ! 
Repentance  is  not  a  paltry,  superficial  reformation. 
It  reaches  deep  into  the  inner  man,  but  not  too  deep 
for  the  searching  influences  of  that  Spirit  which  is  at 
his  giving,  and  which  worketh  mightily  in  the  hearts 
of  believers.  You  should  go  then  under  a  sense  of 
your  difficulty  to  Him.  Seek  to  be  rooted  in  the  Sa- 
viour, that  you  may  be  nourished  out  of  his  fulness, 
and  strengthened  by  his  migjit.  The  simple  cry  for 
a  clean  heart,  and  a  right  spirit,  which  is  raised  from 
the  mouth  of  a  believer,  brings  down  an  answer  from 
on  high,  which  explains  all  the  difficulty  and  over- 
comes it.  And  if  what  we  have  said,  of  the  extent 
and  magnitude  of  repentance,  should  have  the  effect 
to  give  a  deeper  feeling  than  before  of  the  wants  un- 
der which  you  labour;  and  shall  dispose  you  to  seek 
after  a  closer  and  more  habitual  union  with  Him 


1 


who  alone  can  supply  them,  then  will  our  call  to  re- 
pent have  indeed  fulfilled  upon  you  the  appointed  end 
of  a  preparation  for  the  Saviour.  But  recollect  now 
is  your  time,  and  now  is  your  opportunity,  for  enter- 
ing on  the  road  of  preparation  that  leads  to  heaven. 
We  charge  you  to  enter  this  road  at  this  moment, 
as  you  value  your  deliverance  from  hell,  and  your 
possession  of  that  "blissful  place  where  you  shall  be 
for  ever  with  the  Lord — we  charge  you  not  to  parry 
and  to  delay  this  matter,  no  not  for  a  single  hour — 
we  call  on  you  by  all  that  is  great  in  eternity — by  all 
that  is  terrifying  in  its  horrors — by  all  that  is  allur- 
ing in  its  rewards — by  all  that  is  binding  in  the  au- 
thority of  God — by  all  that  is  condemning  in  the  se- 
verity of  his  violated  law,  and  by  all  that  can  aggra- 
vate this  condemnation  in  the  insulting  contempt  of 
his  rejected  gospel; — we  call  on  you  by  one  and  all 
of  these  considerations,  not  to  hesitate  but  to  flee — 
not  to  purpose  a  return  for  to-morrow,  but  to  make 
an  actual  return  this  very  day — to  put  a  decisive  end 
to  every  plan  of  wickedness  on  which  you  may  have 
entered — to  cease  your  hands  from  all  that  is  forbid- 
den— to  turn  them  to  all  that  is  required — to  betake 
yourselves  to  the  appointed  Mediator,  and  receive 
through  him,  by  the  prayer  of  faith,  such  constant 
supplies  of  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that,  from  this  moment,  you 
maybe  carried  forward  from  one  degree  of  grace  un- 
to another,  and  from  a  life  devoted  to  God  here,  to 
the  elevation  of  a  triumphant,  and  the  joys  of  a  bliss- 
ful eternity  hereafter. 

T.  6. 

St.  Andrew's,  October,  1S25. 


CONTENTS. 


The  Advertisement,      -  -  -  33 

The  Preface,  -  35 

The  Text  opened,  -  -  -  49 

Doct.  1.  It  is  the  unchangeable  law  of  God,  that 
wicked  men  must  turn  or  die — Proved,  52 

God  will  not  be  so  unmerciful  as  to  damn  us — 
Answered,        -  53 

The  Use,  57 

Who  are  wicked  men,  and  what  conversion  is;  and 
how  we  may  know  whether  we  are  wicked  or 
converted,  -  59 

Applied,  -----         63 

Doct.  2.  It  is  the  promise  of  God,  that  the  wicked 
shall  live,  if  they  will  but  turn;  unfeignedly  and 
thoroughly  turn — Proved,  -  76 

Doct.  3.  God  taketh  pleasure  in  men's  conversion 
and  salvation,  but  not  in  their  death  or  damna- 
tion. He  had  rather  they  would  turn  and  live, 
than  go  on  and  die — Expounded — Proved,  82 

Doct.  4.  The  Lord  hath  confirmed  it  to  us  by 
his  oath,  That  he  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  death 
of  the  wicked,  but  that  he  turn  and  live;  that  he 
may  leave  man  no  pretence  to  doubt  of  it,  89 

Use.  Who  is  it  then  that  takes  pleasure  in  men's 
sin  and  death? — Not  God,  nor  ministers,  nor  any 
good  men,  *         -  -  -  -  90 

Doct.  5.  So  earnest  is  God  for  the  conversion  of 
sinners,  that  he  doubleth  his  commands  and  ex- 
hortations with  vehemency,  "  Turn  ye,  Turn 
ye," — Applied,  -  -  -  96 

Some  motives  to  obey  God's  call,  and  turn. 
Doct.  6.  The  Lord  condescendeth  to  reason  the 
case  with  unconverted  sinners,  and  to  ask  them, 
Why  they  will  die?  -  109 


S2  CONTENTS. 

A   strange   disputation: — 1.     For   the   question. 
2.  The  disputants. 
Wicked  men  will  die,  or  destroy  themselves. 
Use.  The  sinner's  case  is  certainly  unreasonable,     113 
Their  seeming  reasons  confuted,  -  -        116 

Quest.  Why  are  men  so  unreasonable,  and  loath 

to  turn,  and  will  destroy  themselves? — Answered,  128 
Doct.  7.  If  after  all  this,  men  will  not  turn,  it  is  not 
God's  fault  that  they  are  condemned,  but  their 
own,  even  their  own  wilfulness.  They  die  be- 
cause they  will;  that  is,  because  they  will  not 
turn,        _----  131 

Use,   1.  How  unfit  the  wicked  are  to  charge  God 
with  their  damnation.     It  is  not  because  God  is 
unmerciful,  but  because  they  are  cruel  and  mer- 
ciless to  themselves,      -  -  -       138 
Object.  We  cannot  convert  ourselves,  nor  have 

we  Free-will — Answered,  (and  in  Preface)  142 

Use,  2.  The  subtlety  of  Satan,  the  deceitfulness  of 

sin,  and  the  folly  of  sinners  manifested,         -         143 
Use,  3.  No  wonder  if  the  wicked  would  hinder  the 

conversion  and  salvation  of  others,  -  144 

Use,  4.  Man  is  the  greatest  enemy  to  himself,  144 

Man's  destruction  is  of  himself — Proved,  -       145 

The  heinous  aggravations  of  self-destroying,  151 

The  concluding  exhortation,  -  -  152 

Ten  Directions  for  those  that  had  rather  turn  than 

die, 156 

Now  or  Never,  -  165 

Fifty  Reasons,        -  203 

Extractsfrom  Baxter's  Dying  Thoughts,       231 


%^, 


Uflff/f 

OF  THB 

fuHivsasi 

THE  GREAT  SUCCESS 

WHICH  ATTENDED  THE  CALL 

WHEN  FIRST  PUBLISHED. 


It  may  be  proper  to  prefix  an  account  of  this  book 
given  by  Mr.  Baxter  himself,  which  was  found  in  his 
study,  after  his  death,  in  his  own  words: 

*  I  published  a  short  treatise  on  conversion,  entitled, 
A  Call  to  the  Unconverted.  The  occasion  of  this  was 
my  converse  with  Bishop  Usher  while  I  was  at  London ; 
who,  approving  my  method  and  directions  for  Peace  of 
Conscience,  was  importunate  with  me  to  write  directions 
suited  to  the  various  states  of  Christians,  and  also  against 
particular  sins.  I  reverenced  the  man,  but  disregarded 
these  persuasions,  supposing  I  could  do  nothing  but  what 
is  done  better  already:  but  when  he  was  dead,  his  words 
went  deeper  to  my  mind,  and  I  purposed  to  obey  his 
counsel;  yet,  so  as  that  to  the  first  sort  of  men,  the  un- 
godly, I  thought  vehement  persuasions  meeter  than  di- 
rections only:  and  so  for  such  I  published  this  little  book, 
which  God  hath  blessed  with  unexpected  success,  be- 
yond all  the  rest  that  I  have  written,  except  The  Saint's 
Rest.  In  a  little  more  than  a  year,  there  were  about 
twenty  thousand  of  them  printed  by  my  own  consent,  and 
about  ten  thousand  since,  beside  many  thousands  by 
stolen  impressions,  which  poor  men  stole  for  lucre's  sake. 
Through  God's  mercy,  I  have  information  of  almost 
whole  households  converted  by  this  small  book  which  I 
set  so  light  by:  and,  as  if  all  this  in  England,  Scotland, 


34  ADVERTISEMENT. 

and  Ireland,  were  not  mercy  enough  to  me,  God,  since 
I  was  silenced,  hath  sent  it  over  in  his  message  to  many 
beyond  the  seas;  for  when  Mr.  Elliot  had  printed  all  the 
Bible  in  the  Indian  language,  he  next  translated  this  my 
Call  to  the  Unconverted,  as  he  wrote  to  us  here.  And 
yet  God  would  make  some  farther  use  of  it;  for  Mr. 
Stoop,  the  pastor  of  the  French  Church  in  London,  be- 
ing driven  hence  by  the  displeasure  of  his  superiors,  was 
pleased  to  translate  it  into  French.  I  hope  it  will  not 
be  unprofitable  there;  nor  in  Germany,  where  it  is  print- 
ed in  Dutch.' 

It  may  be  proper  also  to  mention  Dr.  Bates's  account 
of  the  author,  and  of  this  useful  treatise.  In  his  sermon 
at  Mr.  Baxter's  funeral,  he  thus  says  :  •  His  books  of 
practical  divinity  have  been  effectual  for  more  conver- 
sions of  sinners  to  God  than  any  printed  in  our  time;  and 
while  the  church  remains  on  earth,  will  be  of  continual 
efficacy  to  recover  lost  souls.  There  is  a  vigorous  pulse 
in  them,  that  keeps  the  reader  awake  and  attentive.' 
His  Call  to  the  Unconverted,  how  small  in  bulk,  but 
how  powerful  in  virtue!  Truth  speaks  in  it  with  that 
authority  and  efficacy,  that  it  makes  the  reader  to  lay 
his  hand  upon  his  heart,  and  find  that  he  has  a  soul  and 
a  conscience,  though  he  lived  before  as  if  he  had  none. 
He  told  some  friends,  that  six  brothers  were  converted  by 
reading  that  Call;  and  that  every  week  he  received 
letters  of  some  converted  by  his  books.  This  he  spake 
with  most  humble  thankfulness,  that  God  was  pleased  to 
use  him  as  an  instrument  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 


PREFACE. 


To  all  unsanctified  Persons  that  shall  read  this  Book; 
especially  of  my  hearers  in  the  Borough  and  Parish 
of  Kidderminster. 

MEN    AND   BRETHREN, 

The  eternal  God,  that  made  you  for  a  life  everlasting, 
and  hath  redeemed  you  by  his  only  Son,  when  you  had  lost 
it  and  yourselves,  being  mindful  of  you  in  your  sin  and  mis- 
ery, hath  indited  the  gospel,  and  sealed  it  by  his  Spirit,  and 
commanded  his  ministers  to  preach  it  to  the  world,  that  par- 
don being  freely  offered  you,  and  Heaven  being  set  before 
you,  he  might  call  you  off  from  your  fleshly  pleasures,  and 
from  following  after  this  deceitful  world,  and  acquaint  you 
with  the  life  that  you  were  created  and  redeemed  for,  before 
you  are  dead  and  past  remedy.  He  sendeth  you  not  prophets 
or  apostles,  that  receive  their  message  by  immediate  revela- 
tion; but  yet  he  calleth  you  by  his  ordinary  ministers,  who 
are  commissioned  by  him  to  preach  the  same  gospel  which 
Christ  and  his  apostles  first  delivered.  The  Lord  seeth  how 
you  forget  him  and  your  latter  end,  and  how  light  you  make 
of  everlasting  things,  as  men  that  understand  not  what  they 
have  to  do  or  suffer.  He  seeth  how  bold  you  are  in  sin, 
and  how  fearless  of  his  threatenings,  and  how  careless  of 
your  souls,  and  how  the  works  of  infidels  are  in  your  lives, 
while  the  belief  of  Christians  is  in  your  mouths.  He  seeth 
the  dreadful  day  at  hand,  when  your  sorrows  will  begin,  and 
you  must  lament  all  this  with  fruitless  cries  in  torment  and 
desperation:  and  then  the  remembrance  of  your  folly  will 
tear  your  hearts,  if  true  conversion  now  prevent  it  not.  In 
compassion  to  your  sinful  miserable  souls,  the  Lord,  that 
better  knows  your  case  than  you  can  know  it,  hath  made  it 
our  duty  to  speak  to  you  in  his  name,  (2  Cor.  v.  19.)  and  to 
tell  you  plainly  of  your  sin  and  misery,  and  what  will  be  your 
end,  and  how  sad"  a  change  you  will  shortly  see,  if  yet  you 
go  on  a  little  longer.  Having  bought  you  at  so  dear  a  rate 
as  the  blood  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  made  you  so  free 


36  PREFACE. 

and  general  a  promise  of  pardon,  and  grace,  and  everlasting 
glory;  he  commandeth  us  to  tender  all  this  to  you,  as  the  gift 
of  God,  and  to  entreat  you  to  consider  of  the  necessity  and 
worth  of  what  he  offers.  He  sees  and  pities  you,  while  you 
are  drowned  in  worldly  cares  and  pleasures,  eagerly  fol- 
lowing childish  toys,  and  wasting-  that  short  and  precious 
time  for  a  thing  of  nought,  in  which  you  should  make  ready 
for  an  everlasting  life;  and  therefore  he  hath  commanded 
us  to  call  after  you,  and  tell  you  how  you  lose  your  labour, 
and  are  about  to  lose  your  souls,  and  to  tell  you  what  great- 
er and  better  things  you  might  certainly  have,  if  you  would 
hearken  to  his  call.  Isa.  lv.  1,  2,  3.  We  believe  and  obey 
the  voice  of  God;  and  come  to  you  on  his  message,  who  hath 
charged  us  to  preach,  and  be  instant  with  you  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  to  lift  up  our  voice  like  a  trumpet,  and 
show  you  your  transgressions  and  your  sins.  Isa.  lviii.  1,  2; 
Tim.  iv.  1,  2.  But,  alas!  to  the  grief  of  our  souls  and  your 
undoing,  you  stop  your  ears,  you  stiffen  your  necks,  you 
harden  your  hearts,  and  send  us  back  to  God  with  groans, 
to  tell  him  that  we  have  done  his  message,  but  can  do  no 
good  on  you,  nor  scarcely  get  a  sober  hearing.  Oh!  that 
our  eyes  were  as  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  we  might  lament 
our  ignorant  careless  people,  that  have  Christ  before  them, 
and  pardon,  and  life,  and  heaven  before  them,  and  have  not 
hearts  to  know  or  value  them!  that  might  have  Christ,  and 
grace,  and  glory,  as  well  as  others,  if  it  were  not  for  their 
wilful  negligence  and  contempt!  O  that  the  Lord  would  fill 
our  hearts  with  more  compassion  to  these  miserable  souls, 
that  we  might  cast  ourselves  even  at  their  feel,  and  follow 
them  to  their  houses,  and  speak  to  them  with  our  bitter 
tears.  For,  long  have  we  preached  to  many  of  them  in  vain. 
We  study  plainness  to  make  them  understand,  and  many  of 
them  will  not  understand  us;  we  study  serious  piercing  words, 
to  make  them  feel,  but  they  will  not  feel.  If  the  greatest 
matters  would  work  with  them,  we  should  awake  them;  if 
the  sweetest  things  would  work,  we  should  entice  them  and 
win  their  hearts;  if  the  most  dreadful  things  would  work,  we 
should  at  least  affright  them  from  their  wickedness;  if  truth 
and  certainty  would  take  with  them,  we  should  soon  convince 
them;  if  the  God  that  made  them,  and  the  Christ  that  bought 
them,  might  be  heard,  the  case  would  soon  be  altered  with 
them;  if  scripture  might  be  heard,  we  should  soon  prevail;  if 
reason,  even  the  best  and  strongest  reason,  might  be  heard, 
we  should  not  doubt  but  we  should  speedily  convince  them; 
if  experience  might  be  heard,  even  their  own  experience  and 
the  experience  of  all  the  world,  the  matter  would  be  mended; 
yea,  if  the  conscience  within  them  might  be  heard,  the  case 


PREFACE.  37 

would  be  better  with  them  than  it  is.  But  if  nothing  can  be 
heard,  what  then  shall  we  do  for  tnem'?  If  the  dreadful  God 
of  heaven  be  slighted,  who  then  shall  be  regarded!  if  the 
inestimable  love  and  blood  of  a  Redeemer  be  made  light 
of,  what  then  shall  be  valued'?  If  heaven  have  no  desirable 
glory  with  them,  and  everlasting  joys  be  nothing  worth;  if 
they  can  jest  at  hell,  and  dance  about  the  bottomless  pit,  and 
play  with  the  consuming  fire,  and  that  when  God  and  man 
do  warn  them  of  it,  what  shall  we  do  for  such  souls  as  these! 
Once  more,  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  heaven,  I  shall 
do  the  message  to  you  which  he  hath  commanded  us,  and 
leave  it  in  these  standing  lines  to  convert  you  or  condemn 
you:  to  change  you,  or  rise  up  in  judgment  against  you,  and  to 
be  a  witness  to  your  faces,  that  once  you  had  a  serious  call 
to  turn.  Hear  all  you  that  are  drudges  of  the  world,  and 
the  servants  of  flesh  and  Satan!  that  spend  your  days  in  look- 
ing after  prosperity  on  earth,  and  drown  your  conscience 
in  drinking,  and  gluttony,  and  idleness,  and  foolish  sports, 
and  know  your  sin,  and  yet  will  sin,  as  if  you  set  God  at  defi- 
ance, and  bid  him  do  his  worst  and  spare  not!  Hearken,  all 
you  that  mind  not  God,  and  have  no  heart  to  holy  things, 
and  feel  no  savour  in  the  word  or  worship  of  the  Lord,  or  in 
the  thoughts  or  mention  of  eternal  life,  that  are  careless  of  your 
immortal  souls,  and  never  bestow  one  hour  in  inquiring  what 
case  they  are  in,  whether  sanctified  or  unsanctified,  and  wheth- 
er you  are  ready  to  appear  before  the  Lord!  Hearken  all  you 
that,  by  sinning  in  light,  have  sinned  yourselves  into  infide- 
lity, and  do  not  believe  the  word  of  God.  He  that  hath  an 
ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear  the  gracious  and  yet  dreadful  call  of 
God!  His  eye  is  all  this  while  upon  you.  Your  sins  are  re- 
gistered, and  you  shall  surely  hear  of  them  all  again.  God 
keepeth  the  book  now;  and  he  will  write  it  all  upon  your 
consciences  with  his  terrors;  and  then  you  also  shall  keep  it 
yourselves!  O  sinners,  that  you  but  knew  what  you  are  do- 
ing, and  whom  you  are  all  this  while  offending!  The  sun  it- 
*elf  is  darkness  before  the  glory  of  that  Majesty,  which  you 
daily  abuse  and  carelessly  provoke.  The  sinning  angels 
were  not  able  to  stand  before  him,  but  were  cast  down  to  be 
tormented  with  devils.  And  dare  such  siily  worms  as  you 
so  carelessly  offend,  and  set  yourselves  against  your  Maker! 
O  that  you  did  but  a  little  know  what  case  that  wretched 
soul  is  in,  that  hath  engaged  the  living  God  against  him!  The 
word  of  his  mouth,  that  made  thee,  can  unmake  thee;  the 
frown  of  his  face  will  cut  thee  off  and  cast  thee  out  into  ut- 
ter darkness.  How  eager  are  the  devils  to  be  doing  with 
thee  that  have  tempted  thee,  and  do  but  wait  for  the  word 
from  God  to  take  and  use  thee  as  their  own!  and  then  in  a 


r 


38  PREFACE. 

moment  thou  wilt  be  in  hell.  If  God  be  against  thee,  all 
things  are  against  thee:  this  world  is  but  thy  prison,  tor  all 
thou  so  lovest  it;  thou  art  but  reserved  in  it  to  the  day  of 
wrath  (Job  xxi.  30.);  the  Judge  is  coming,  thy  soul  is  even 
going.  Yet  a  little  while,  and  thy  friend  shall  say  of  thee 
*  He  is  dead;'  and  thou  shalt  see  the  things  that  thou  now  dost 
despise,  and  feel  that  which  now  thou  wilt  not  believe.  Death 
will  bring  such  an  argument  as  thou  canst  not  answer;  an 
argument  that  shall  effectually  confute  thy  cavils  against  the 
word  and  ways  of  God,  and  all  thy  self-conceited  dotages. 
And, then  how  soon  will  thy  mind  be  changed?  Then  be  an 
unbeliever  if  thou  canst;  stand  then  to  all  thy  former  words, 
which  thou  wast  wont  to  utter  against  a  holy  and  a  heavenly 
life.  Make  good  that  cause  then  before  the  Lord,  which  thou 
wast  wont  to  plead  against  thy  teachers,  and  against  the  peo- 
ple that  feared  God.  Then  stand  to  thy  old  opinions  and  eon- 
temptuous  thoughts  of  the  diligence  of  the  saints:  make  ready 
now  thy  strongest  reasons,  and  stand  up  then  before  the  Judge, 
and  plead  like  a  man  for  thy  fleshly,  thy  worldly,  thy  ungodly 
life.  But  know  that  thou  wilt  have  one  to  plead  with,  that  will 
not  be  outfaced  by  thee;  nor  so  easily  put  off  as  we  thy  fellow- 
creatures.  O  poor  soul !  there  is  nothing  but  a  slender  veil  of 
flesh  between  thee  and  that  amazing  sight,  which  will  quickly 
silence  thee,  and  turn  thy  tone,  and  make  thee  of  another  mind! 
As  soon  as  death  hath  drawn  this  curtain,  thou  shalt  see  that 
which  will  quickly  leave  thee  speechless.  And  how  quickly 
will  that  day  and  hour  come!  When  thou  hast  had  but  a  few 
more  merry  hours,  and  but  a  few  more  pleasant  draughts  and 
morsels,  and  a  little  more  of  the  honours  and  riches  of  the 
world,  thy  portion  will  be  spent,  and  thy  pleasures  ended,  and 
all  is  then  gone  that  thou  settest  thy  heart  upon;  of  all  that  thou 
coldest  thy  Saviour  and  salvation  for,  there  is  nothing  left  but 
the  heavy  reckoning.  As  a  thief,  that  sits  merrily  spending 
the  money  which  he  hath  stolen,  in  an  alehouse,  when  mm 
are  riding  in  post  haste  to  apprehend  him,  so  is  it  with  you. 
While  you  are  drowned  in  cares  or  fleshly  pleasures,  and 
making  merry  with  your  own  shame,  death  is  coming  in  post 
haste  to  seize  upon  you,  and  carry  your  souls  to  such  a  place 
and  state  as  now  you  little  know  or  think  of.  Suppose,  w  lun 
you  are  bold  and  busy  in  your  sin,  that  a  messenger  were  but 
coming  post  from  London  to  apprehend  you  and  tftfce  away 
your  lives;  though  you  saw  him  not,  yet  if  you  knew  thai  he 
was  Doming,  it  would  mar  your  mirth,  and  you  would  he 
thinking  of  the  haste  he  makes,  and  hearkening  when  he 
knocked  at  your  door.  O  that  you  could  but  see  what  baste 
Death  makes,  though  he  vet  has  not  overtaken  you!  No  pott 
so  swift.    No  messenger  more  sure.    As  sure  as  the  sun  will 


PREFACE.  39 

be  with  you  in  the  morning,  though  it  hath  many  thousand 
and  hundred  thousand  miles  to  go  in  the  night,  so  sure  will 
Death  be  quickly  with  you:  and  then  where  is  your  sport  and 
pleasure]  Then  will  you  jest  and  brave  it  out?  Then  will 
you  jeer  at  them  that  warned  you?  Then  is  it  better  to  be  a 
believing  saint  or  a  sensual  worldling?  And  then  whose  shall 
all  these  thing3  be  that  you  have  gathered?  Luke  xii.  19, 
20,  21.  Do  you  not  observe  that  days  and  weeks  are  quickly 
gone,  and  nights  and  mornings  come  apace,  and  speedily 
succeed  each  other?  You  sleep,  but  your  damnation  slum- 
bereth  not;  you  linger,  but  your  judgment  this  long  time  ling- 
creth  not,  to  which  you  are  reserved  for  punishment.  2  Pet. 
ii.  3,  4,  5,  8,  9.  O  that  you  were  wise  to  understand  this, 
and  that  you  did  consider  your  latter  end!  Deut.  xxxii.  29. 
He  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear  the  call  of  God  in 
this  day  of  his  salvation. 

O  careless  sinners!  that  you  did  but  know  the  love  that  you 
unthank fully  neglect,  and  the  preciousness  of  the  blood  of 
Christ  which  you  despise!  O  that  you  did  but  know  the 
riches  of  the  go.spel!  O  that  you  did  but  know,  a  little  know, 
the  certainty,  and  the  glory,  and  blessedness  of  that  everlast- 
ing life,  which  now  you  will  not  set  your  hearts  upon,  nor 
be  persuaded  first  and  diligently  to  seek.  Heb.  xi.  6,  and 
xii.  2S;  and  Matt.  vi.  13.  Did  you  but  know  the  endless 
life  with  God  which  you  now  neglect,  how  quickly  would 
you  cast  away  jour  sin,  how  quickly  would  you  change  your 
mind  and  life,  your  course  and  company,  and  turn  the  streams 
of  your  affections,  and  lay  your  care  another  way?  How  re- 
solutely would  you  scorn  to  yield  to  such  temptations  as  now 
deceive  you  and  carry  you  away?  How  zealously  would  you 
bestir  yourselves  for  that  most  blessed  life?  How  earnest 
would  you  be  with  God  in  prayer?  How  diligent  in  hearing 
and  learning,  and  inquiring?  How  serious  in  meditating  on 
the  laws  of  God?  Ps.  i.  2.  How  fearful  of  sinning  in 
thought,  word,  and  deed?  and  how  careful  to  please  God  and 
grow  in  holiness?  O  what  a  changed  people  you  would  be! 
And  why  should  not  the  certain  word  of  God  be  believed  by 
you,  and  prevail  with  you,  which  openeth  to  you  these  glori- 
ous and  eternal  things? 

Yea,  let  me  tell  you  that  even  here  on  earth,  you  little 
know  the  difference  between  the  life  which  you  refuse,  and 
the  life  which  you  choose?  The  sanctified  are  conversing 
with  God,  when  you  dare  scarce  think  of  him,  and  when  you 
are  conversing  with  but  earth  and  flesh.  Their  conversation 
is  in  heaven,  when  you  are  utter  strangers  to  it,  and  your  bel- 
ly is  your  God,  and  you  are  minding  earthly  things.  Phil, 
iii.  18,  19,  20.     They  are  seeking  after  the  face  of  God, 


40  PREFACE. 

when  you  seek  for  nothing  higher  than  this  world.  They 
are  busily  laying  up  for  an  endless  life,  where  they  shall  be 
equal  with  the  angels,  (Luke  xx.  36.)  when  you  are  taken  up 
with  a  shadow  and  a  transitory  thing  of  nought.  How  low 
and  base  is  your  earthly,  ileshly,  sinful  life,  in  comparison  of 
the  noble  spiritual  life  of  true  believers'?  Many  a  time  have  I 
looked  on  such  men  with  grief  and  pity,  to  see  them  trudge 
about  the  world,  and  spend  their  lives,  and  care,  and  labour, 
for  nothing  but  a  little  food  and  raiment,  or  a  little  fading  pelf, 
or  Ileshly  pleasures,  or  empty  honours,  as  if  they  had  no  higher 
things  to  mind.  What  difference  is  there  between  the  lives 
of  these  men  and  of  the  beasts  that  perish,  that  spend  their  time 
in  working  and  eating,  and  living,  but  that  they  may  live? 
They  taste  not  of  the  inward  heavenly  pleasures  upon  which 
believers  taste  and  live.  I  had  rather  have  a  little  of  their  com- 
fort, which  the  forethoughts  of  their  heavenly  inheritance  af- 
ford them,  though  I  had  all  their  scorns  and  sufferings  with 
it,  than  to  have  all  your  pleasures  and  treacherous  prosper- 
ity. I  would  not  have  one  of  your  secret  pangs  of  con- 
science, and  dark  and  dreadful  thoughts  of  death  and  the  life 
to  come,  for  all  that  ever  the  world  hath  done  for  you,  or  all 
that  you  can  reasonably  hope  that  it  should  do.  If  I  were 
in  your  unconverted  carnal  state,  and  knew  but  what  I  know, 
and  believe  but  what  I  now  believe,  methinks  my  life  would 
be  a  foretaste  of  hell:  How  oft  should  T  be  thinking  of  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord,  and  of  the  dismal  day  that  is  hastening 
on!  Sure  death  and  hell  would  be  still  before  me.  I  should 
think  of  them  by  day,  and  dream  of  them  by  night;  I  should 
lie  down  in  fear,  and  rise  in  fear,  and  live  in  fear,  jest  death 
should  come  before  I  were  converted.  I  should  have  small 
felicity  in  any  thing  that  I  possessed,  and  little  pleasure  hi 
any  company,  and  little  joy  in  any  tiling  in  the  world,  as 
long  as  I  knew  myself  to  be  under  the  curse  and  wrath  of 
God.  I  should  be  still  afraid  of  hearing  that  voice,  Thou 
fool,  this  night  shall  thy  soul  he  required  of  thee.  Luke,  Nii. 
20.  And  that  fearful  sentence  would  be  written  upon  mv  eon- 
science,  There  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked. 
Isaiah,  xlviii.  22.  Ivii.  21.  O  poor  sinners!  It  is  a  more  joy- 
ful life  than  this,  that  you  might  live,  if  you  were  but  willing, 
but  truly  willing  to  hearken  to  Christ, and  come  borne  to  God. 
You  might  then  draw  near  to  God  with  boldness,  and  call 
him  your  Father,  and  comfortably  trust  him  with  your  souls 
and  bodies.  If  you  look  upon  the  promises,  you  may  say, 
They  are  all  mine.  If  upon  the  curse,  you  may  say,  Prom 
this  I  am  delivered.  When  yap  read  the  law,  yon  ma\  see 
what  you  are  saved  from.  When  you  read  the  Gospel,  you 
may  see  him  that  redeemed  you,  and  see  the  course  of  hia 


love,  and  holy  life,  and  sufferings,  and  trace  him  in  his  temp- 
tations, tears,  and  blood,  in  the  work  of  your  salvation 
You  may  see  death  conquered,  and  heaven  opened,  and  your 
resurrection  and  glorification  provided  for  in  the  resurrection 
and  glorification  of  the  Lord.  If  you  look  on  the  saints, 
you  may  say,  They  are  my  brethren  and  companions.  If 
on  the  unsanctified,  you  may  rejoice  to  think  that  you  are 
saved  from  that  state.  If  you  look  upon  the  heavens,  the  sun, 
and  moon,  and  stars  innumerable,  you  may  think  and  say, 
My  Father's  face  is  infinitely  more  glorious;  it  is  higher  mat- 
ters that  He  hath  prepared  for  his  saints;  yonder  is  but  the 
outward  court  of  heaven.  The  blessedness  that  He  hath  pro- 
mised me  is  so  much  higher  that  flesh  and  blood  cannot  be- 
hold it.  If  you  think  of  the  grave,  you  may  remember  that 
the  glorified  Spirit,  a  living  Head,  and  a  loving  Father,  have 
all  so  near  a  relation  to  your  dust,  that  it  cannot  be  forgot- 
ten or  neglected,  but  will  more  certainly  revive  than  the 
plants  and  flowers  in  the  spring:  because  that  the  soul  is  still 
alive  that  is  the  root  of  the  body;  and  Christ  is  ali\e,  that 
is  the  root  of  both.  Even  death,  which  is  the  king  of  fears, 
may  be  remembered  and  entertained  with  joy,  as  being  the 
day  of  your  deliverance  from  the  remnant  of  sin  and  sorrow, 
and  the  day  which  you  believed,  and  hoped,  and  waited  for, 
when  you  shall  see  the  blessed  things  which  you  had  heard 
of,  and  shall  find  by  present  joyful  experience  what  it  was  to 
choose  the  better  part,  and  to  be  a  sincere  believing  saint. 
What  say  you,  sir'?  Is  not  this  a  more  delightful  life,  to  be  as- 
sured of  salvation,  and  ready  to  die,  than  to  live  as  the  un- 
godly, that  have  their  hearts  overcharged  with  surfeiting, 
and  drunkenness,  and  the  cares  of  this  life,  and  so  that  dav 
comes  upon  them  unawares'?  Luke  xxi.  34,  36.  Might  you 
not  live  a  comfortable  life,  if  once  you  were  made  the  heirs 
of  heaven,  and  sure  to  be  saved  when  you  leave  the  world! 
O  look  about  you  then,  and  think  what  you  do,  and  cast  not 
away  such  hopes  as  these  for  very  nothing.  The  flesh  and 
world  can  give  you  no  such  hopes  or  comforts. 

And  besides  all  the  misery  that  you  bring  upon  yourselves, 
you  are  the  troublers  of  others  as  long  as  you  are  unconvert- 
ed. You  trouble  magistrates  to  rule  you  by  their  laws;  you 
trouble  ministers  by  resisting  the  light  and  guidance  which 
they  offer  you.  Your  sin  and  misery  aVe  the  greatest  grief 
and  trouble  to  them  in  the  world.  You  trouble  the  com- 
monwealth, and  draw  the  judgments  of  God  upon  you.  It 
is  you  that  most  disturb  the  holy  peace  and  order  of  the 
churches,  and  hinder  our  union  and  reformation,  and  are  the 
shame  and  trouble  of  the  churches  where  you  intrude,  and 
of  the  places  where  vou  are.  Ah,  Lord!  howr  heavy  and 
4 


4%  PREFACE. 

sad  a  case  is  this,  that  even  in  England,  where  the  gospel 
doth  abound  above  any  other  nation  in  the  world,  where 
teaching  is  so  plain  and  common,  and  all  the  helps  we  can 
desire  are  at  hand;  when  the  sword  has  been  hewing  us, 
and  judgment  has  run  as  a  fire  through  the  land;  when  deliv- 
erances have  relieved  us,  and  so  many  admirable  mercies 
have  engaged  us  to  God,  and  to  the  Gospel,  and  a  holy  life; 
that,  after  all  this,  our  cities,  and  towns,  and  countries, 
shall  abound  with  multitudes  of  unsanctitfed  men,  and 
swarm  with  so  much  sensuality,  as  every  where,  to  our  grief, 
we  see]  One  would  have  thought,  that  after  all  this  light, 
and  all  this  experience,  and  all  these  judgments  and  mercies 
of  God,  the  people  of  this  nation  should  have  joined  togeth- 
er,  as  one  man,  to  turn  to  the  Lord,  and  should  have  come 
to  their  godly  teacher,  and  lamented  all  their  former  sins, 
and  desired  him  to  join  with  them,  in  public  humiliation,  to 
confess  them  openly,  and  beg  pardon  of  them  from  the  Lord, 
and  should  have  craved  his  instruction  for  the  time  to  come, 
and  be  glad  to  be  ruled  by  the  Spirit  within,  and  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ  without,  according  to  the  word  of  God.  One 
would  think  that,  after  such  reason  and  Scripture  evidence 
as  they  hear,  and  after  all  these  means  and  mercies,  there 
should  not  be  an  ungodly  person  left  among  us,  nor  a  world- 
ling, nor  a  drunkard,  nor  a  hater  of  reformation,  nor  an  ene- 
my to  holiness,  to  be  found  in  all  our  towns  and  countries. 
If  we  be  not  all  agreed  about  some  ceremonies  or  forms  of 
government,  one  would  think  that,  before  this,  we  should 
have  been  agreed  to  live  a  holy  and  heavenly  life,  in  obedi- 
ence to  God,  his  word,  and  ministers,  and  in  love  and  peace 
with  one  another.  But,  alas!  how  far  are  our  people  from 
this  course!  Most  of  them,  in  most  places,  do  set  their  hearts 
on  earthly  things,  and  seek  not  "  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  the  righteousness  thereof,"  but  look  on  holiness  as  a 
needless  thing;  their  families  are  pravi  rl( \»s,  or  else  a  few 
heartless  lifeless  words  must  serve  instead  of  lieartv  In- 
vent daily  prayers  (or  perhaps  only  on  the  Lord's  day,  in  the 
evening):  their  children  are  not  taught  the  knowledge  of 
Christ,  and  the  covenant  of  grace,  nor  brought  up  in  the 
nurture  of  the  Lord,  though  they  firmly  promised  all  this  at 
their  baptism. 

They  instruct  not  their  servants  in  the  matters  of  salvation; 
but  so  their  work  be  done,  they  care  not.  There  are 
more  railing  speeches  in  their  families  than  graciotM  words 
that  tend  to  edification.  I  low  few  are  the  families  that  fear 
the  Lord,  and  inquire  at  his  word  and  ministers  how  they 
should  live,  and  what  they  should  do,  and  are  willing  to  be 
taught  and  ruled,  and  that  heartily   look   after   everlasting 


life!  And  those  few  that  God  hath  made  so  happy  are 
commonly  the  by-word  of  their  neighbours.  When  we  see 
some  live  in  drunkenness,  and  some  in  pride  and  worldli- 
ness,  and  most  of  them  have  little  care  of  their  salvation, 
though  the  cause  be  gross  and  past  all  controversy,  yet  will 
they  hardly  be  convinced  of  their  misery,  and  more  hardly 
recovered  and  reformed;  but,  when  we  have  done  all  that 
we  are  able  to  save  them  from  their  sins,  we  leave  the  most  of 
them  as  we  find  them.  And  if,  according  to  the  law  of  God, 
we  cast  them  out  of  the  communion  of  the  church,  when 
they  have  obstinately  rejected  all  our  admonitions,  they  rage 
at  us  as  if  we  were  their  enemies,  and  their  hearts  are  filled 
with  malice  against  us,  and  they  wil?  sooner  set  themselves 
against  the  Lord,  and  his  laws,  and  church,  and  ministers, 
than  against  their  deadly  sins.  This  is  the  doleful  case  of 
England:  we  have  magistrates  that  countenance  the  ways  of 
godliness,  and  a  happy  opportunity  for  unity  and  reforma- 
tion is  before  us,  and  faithful  ministers  long  to  see  the  right 
ordering  of  the  church  and  of  the  ordinances  of  God:  but  the 
power  of  sin  in  our  people  doth  frustrate  almost  all.  No- 
where can  almost  a  faithful  minister  set  up  the  unquestiona- 
ble discipline  of  Christ,  or  put  back  the  most  scandalous 
impenitent  sinners  from  the  communion  of  the  church  and 
participation  of  the  sacraments,  but  the  most  of  the  people 
rail  at  them  and  revile  them;  as  if  these  ignorant  careless  souls 
were  wiser  than  their  teachers,  or  than  God  himself.  And 
thus,  in  the  day  of  our  visitation,  when  God  calls  upon  us  to 
reform  his  church,  though  magistrates  seem  willing,  and 
faithful  ministers  seem  willing,  yet  are  the  multitude  of  (he 
people  still  unwilling,  and  have  so  blinded  themselves,  and 
hardened  their  hearts,  that,  even  in  these  days  of  light  and 
grace,  they  are  the  obstinate  enemies  of  light  and  grace, 
and  will  not  be  broitght  by  the  calls  of  God  to  see  their 
folly,  and  know  what  is  for  their  good.  O  that  the  people 
of  England  knew  at  least  in  this  their  day,  the  things  that 
belong  unto  their  peace,  before  they  are  hid  from  their 
eyes!  Luke  xix.  42. 

O  foolish  miserable  souls!  Gal.  iii.  1.  Who  hath  bewitched 
your  minds  into  such  madness,  and  your  hearts  unto  such 
deadness,  that  you  should  be  such  mortal  enemies  to  your- 
selves, and  go  on  so  obstinately  towards  damnation,  that 
neither  the  word  of  God,  nor  the  persuasions  of  men,  can 
change  your  minds,  or  hold  your  hands,  or  stop  you,  till  you 
are  past  remedy!  Well,  sinners!  this  life  will  not  last  al- 
ways; this  patience  will  not  wait  upon  you  still.  Do  not 
think  that  you  shall  abuse  your  Maker  and  Redeemer,  and 
serve  his  enemies,  and  debase  your  souls,  and  trouble  the 


world,  and  wrong  the  church,  and  reproach  the  godly,  and 
grieve  your  teachers,  and  hinder  reformation,  and  all  this 
upon  free  cost.  You  know  not  yet  what  this  must  cost  you, 
but  you  must  shortly  know,  when  the  righteous  God  shall 
take  you  in  hand,  who  will  handle  you  in  another  manner 
than  the  sharpest  magistrates  or  the  plainest  dealing  pastors 
did,  unless  you  prevent  the  everlasting  torments,  by  a  sound 
conversion  and  a  speedy  obeying  of  the  call  of  God,  "  He 
that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear,"  while  mercy  hath  a 
voice  to  call. 

One  objection  I  find  most  common  in  the  mouths  of  the 
ungodly,  especially  of  l^te  years;  they  say,  *  We  can  do  noth- 
ing without  God,  Ave  cannot  have  grace,  if  God  will  not  give 
it  us;  and,  if  he  will,  we  shall  quickly  turn;  if  he  have  not 
predestinated  us,  and  will  not  turn  us,  how  can  we  turn  our- 
selves, or  be  saved!  It  is  not  in  him  that  wills  nor  in  him  that 
runs.*     And  thus  they  think  they  are  excused. 

I  have  answered  this  formerly,  and  in  this  book;  but  let 
me  now  say  this  much.  1.  Though  you  cannot  cure  your- 
selves, you  can  hurt  and  poison  yourselves.  It  is  God  that 
must  sanctify  your  hearts;  but  who  corrupted  them!  Will  you 
wilfully  take  poison,  because  you  cannot  cure  yourselves! 
Methinks  you  should  the  more  forbear  it.  You  should  the 
more  take  heed  of  sinning,  if  you  cannot  mend  what  sin  doth 
mar.  2.  Though  you  cannot  be  converted  without  the  spe- 
cial grace  of  God,  yet  you  must  know  that  God  giveth  his 
grace  in  the  use  of  his  holy  means  which  he  hath  appointed  to 
that  end;  and  common  grace  may  enable  you  to  forbear  your 
gross  sinning  (as  to  the  outward  act)  and  to  use  those  means. 
Can  you  truly  say,  that  you  do  as  much  as  you  are  able  to  do! 
Are  you  not  able  to  go  by  an  alehouse  door,  or  to  forbear 
the  company  that  hardeneth  you  in  sin!  Are  you  not  able  to 
hear  the  word,  and  think  of  what  you  heard  when  you  come 
home,  and  to  consider  with  yourselves  of  your  own  condition 
and  of  everlasting  things!  Are  you  not  able  to  read  good 
books  from  day  to  day,  at  least  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  to 
converse  with  those  that  fear  the  Lord!  You  cannot  say 
that  you  have  done  what  you  arc  able.  3.  And  therefore 
you  must  know  that  you  can  forfeit  the  grace  and  help  of 
God  by  your  wilful  sinning  or  negligence,  though  you  can- 
not, without  grace,  turn  to  God.  If  you  will  not  do  what 
you  can,  it  is  just  with  God  to  deny  you  that  grace  by 
which  you  might  do  more.  4.  And,  for  GodV decrees,  you 
must  know  that  they  separate  not  the  end  and  means,  hut 
tie  them  together.  God  never  decreed  10  Save  any  but  the 
sanctified,  nor  to  damn  any  bat  the  nnsanctifird  God  doth 
as  truly  decree  whether  your  land  this  year  shall  be  barren  or 


fruitful,  and  just  how  long  you  shall  live  in  the  world,  as  he 
hath  decreed  Avhether  you  shall  be  saved  or  not;  and  yet  you 
would  think  that  man  but  a  fool  that  would  forbear  ploughing 
and  sowing,  and  say,  '  If  God  hath  decreed  that  my  ground 
shall  bear  corn,  it  will  bear,  whether  I  plough  and  sow  or 
not.  If  God  have  decreed  that  I  shall  live,  I  shall  live, 
whether  I  eat  or  not;  but,  if  he  have  not,  it  is  not  eating  that 
will  keep  me  alive.'  Do  you  know  how  to  answer  such  a 
man,  or  do  you  not?  If  you  do,  then  you  know  how  to  an- 
swer yourselves;  for,  the  case  is  alike:  God's  decree  is  as 
peremptory  about  your  bodies  as  your  souls:  if  you  do  not, 
then  try  first  these  conclusions  upon  your  bodies,  before  you 
venture  to  try  them  on  your  souls:  see  first  whether  God  will 
keep  you  alive  without  food  or  raiment,  and  whether  he  will 
give  you  corn  without  tillage  and  labour,  and  whether  he 
will  bring  you  to  your  journey's  end  without  your  travel  or 
carriage;  and,  if  you  speed  well  in  this,  then  try  whether  he 
will  bring  you  to  heaven  without  your  diligent  use  of  means, 
and  sit  down  and  say,  We  cannot  sanctify  ourselves. 

Well,  sirs,  I  have  but  three  requests  to  you,  and  I  have 
done. 

First,  That  you  will  seriously  read  over  this  small  treatise; 
and,  if  you  have  such  as  need  it  in  your  families,  that  you 
would  read  it  over  and  over^to  them;  and  if  those  that  fear 
God  would  go  now  and  then  to  their  ignorant  neighbours, 
and  read  this  or  some  other  book  to  them  of  this  sub- 
ject, they  might  be  a  means  of  winning  souls.  If  we  can- 
not entreat  so  small  a  labour  of  men  for  their  own  salvation, 
as  to  read  such  short  instructions  as  these,  they  set  little  by 
themselves  and  will  most  justly  perish. 

Secondly,  W^hen  you  have  read  over  this  book,  I  would 
entreat  you  to  go  alone  and  ponder  a  little  what  you  have 
read,  and  bethink  you,  as  in  the  sight  of  God,  whether  it  be 
not  true,  and  do  not  nearly  touch  your  souls,  and  whether  it 
be  not  time  to  look  about  you.  And  also  entreat  you,  that 
you  will  upon  your  knees  beseech  the  Lord  that  he  will  open 
your  eyes  to  understand  the  truth,  and  turn  your  hearts  to 
the  love  of  God,  and  beg  of  him  all  that  saving  grace  which 
you  have  so  long  neglected,  and  follow  it  on  from  day  to 
day,  till  your  hearts  be  changed.  And  withal,  that  you  will 
go  to  your  pastors,  (that  are  set  over  you  to  take  care  of  the 
health  and  safety  of  your  souls,  as  physicians  do  for  the 
health  of  your  bodies,)  and  desire  them  to  direct  you  what 
course  to  take,  and  acquaint  them  with  your  spiritual  estate, 
that  you  may  have  the  benefit  of  their  advice  and  ministeri- 
al help. 


46  PREFACE. 

Or,  if  you  have  not  a  faithful  pastor  at  home,  make  use 
of  some  other  in  so  great  a  need. 

Thirdly,  When,  by  reading,  consideration,  prayer,  and 
ministerial  advice,  you  are  once  acquainted  with  your  sin 
and  misery,  with  your  duty  and  remedy,  delay  not,  but  pres- 
ently forsake  your  sinful  company  and  courses,  and  turn  to 
God,  and  obey  his  call.  As  you  love  your  souls,  take  heed 
that  ye  go  not  on  against  so  loud  a  call  of  God,  and  against 
your  own  knowledge  and  conscience,  lest  it  go  worse  with 
you  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  with  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 
Inquire  of  God,  as  a  man  that  is  willing  to  know  the  truth, 
and  not  be  a  wilful  cheater  of  his  soul.  Search  the  holy 
Scriptures  daily,  and  see  whether  these  things  be  so  or  not: 
try  impartially  whether  it  be  safer  to  trust  heaven  or  earth, 
and  whether  it  be  better  to  follow  God  or  man,  the  Spirit  or 
the  flesh,  and  better  to  live  in  holiness  or  sin,  and  whether 
an  unsanctified  state  be  safe  for  you  to  abide  in  one  day 
longer;  and  when  you  have  found  out  which  is  best,  resolve 
accordingly,  and  make  your  choice  without  any  more  ado. 
Tf  you  will  be  true  to  your  own  souls,  and  do  not  love  ever- 
lasting torments,  I  beseech  you,  as  from  the  Lord,  that  you 
will  but  take  this  reasonable  advice.  O  what  happy  towns 
and  countries,  and  what  a  happy  nation  might  we  have,  if 
we  could  but  persuade  our  neighbours  to  agree  to  such  a 
necessary  motion!  What  joyful  men  would  all  faithful  min- 
isters be,  if  they  could  but  see  their  people  truly  heavenly 
and  holy;  this  would  be  the  unity,  the  peace,  the  safely,  the 
glory,  of  our  churches;  the  happiness  of  our  neighbours,  and 
the  comfort  of  our  souls.  Then  how  comfortably  should  we 
preach  pardon  and  peace  to  you,  and  deliver  the  sacraments, 
which  are  the  seals  of  peace  to  you!  And  with  what  love 
and  joy  might  we  live  among  you!  At  your  deathbed  how 
boldly  might  we  comfort  and  encourage  your  departing  souls! 
And,' at  your  burial,  how  comfortably  might  we  leave  you  in 
the  grave,  in  expectation  to  meet  your  souls  in  heaven,  and  to 
see  your  bodies  raised  to  that  glory! 

But,  if  still  the  most  of  you  will  go  on  in  a  careless,  igno- 
rant, fleshly,  worldly,  or  unholy  life,  and  all  our  desires  and 
labours  cannot  BO  far  prevail  as  to  keep  you  from  the  wilful 
damning  of  yourselves,  we  must  then  imitate  our  Lord,  who 
delighteth  himself  in  those  few  that  are  jewels,  and  in  a  little 
flock  that  shall  receive  the  kingdom,  when  the  most  shall 
reap  the  misery  which  they  sowed,  in  nature  excellent 
things  are  few.  The  world'  hath  not  many  suns,  or  moons; 
it  is  but  a  little  of  the  earth  that  is  gold  or  silver.  Princes 
and  nobles  are  but  a  small  part  of  the  sons  of  men:  and  it 


PREFACE.  47 

is  no  great  number  that  are  learned,  judicious,  or  wise,  here  in 
the  world.  And,  therefore,  if  the  gate  being  strait  and  very 
narrow,  there  be  but  few  that  find  salvation,  yet  God  will 
have  his  glory  and  pleasure  in  those  few.  And,  when  Christ 
shall  come  with  his  mighty  angels  in  flaming  fire,  taking  ven- 
geance on  them  that  know  not  God  and  obey  not  the  gospel 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  coming  will  be  glorified  in  his 
saints,  and  admired  in  all  true  believers.  2  Thess.  i.  7,  8, 
9,  10. 

And  for  the  rest,  as  God  the  Father  vouchsafed  to  create 
them,  and  God  the  Son  disdained  not  to  bear  the  penalty  of 
their  sins  upon  the  cross,  and  did  not  judge  such  sufferings 
in  vain,  though  he  knew  that  by  refusing  the  sanctification 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  they  would  finally  destroy  themselves,  so 
we,  that  are  his  ministers,  though  these  be  not  gathered, 
judge  not  our  labour  wholly  lost.     See  Isa.  xlix.  5. 

Reader,  I  have  done  with  thee,  when  thou  hast  perused 
this  book;  but  sin  hath  not  yet  done  with  thee,  even  those 
that  thou  thoughtest  had  been  forgotten  long  ago,  and  Satan 
hath  not  yet  done  with  thee,  though  now  he  be  out  of  sight, 
and  God  hath  not  yet  done  with  thee,  because  thou  wilt  not 
be  persuaded  to  have  done  with  the  deadly  reigning  sin.  I 
have  written  thee  this  persuasive,  as  one  that  is  going  into 
another  world,  where  the  things  are  seen  that  I  here  speak 
of,  and  as  one  that  knoAveth  thou  must  be  shortly  there  thy- 
self. As  ever  thou  wilt  meet  me  with  comfort  before  the 
Lord  that  made  us;  as  ever  thou  wilt  escape  the  everlasting 
plagues  prepared  for  the  final  neglecters  of  salvation,  and  for 
all  that  are  not  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  love  not 
the  communion  of  the  saints  as  members  of  the  holy  catho- 
lic church;  and  as  ever  thou  hopest  to  see  the  face  of  Christ 
the  Judge,  and  of  the  majesty  of  the  Father,  with  peace  and 
comfort,  and  to  be  received  into  glory  when  thou  art  turned 
naked  out  of  this  world;  I  beseech  thee,  I  charge  thee,  to 
hear  and  obey  the  Call  of  God,  and  resolvedly  to  turn,  that 
thou  mayst  live.  But,  if  thou  wilt  not,  even  when  thou 
hast  no  true  reason  for  it,  but  because  thou  wilt  not,  I  sum- 
mon thee  to  answer  it  before  the  Lord,  and  require  thee 
there  to  bear  me  witness  that  I  gave  thee  warning,  and  that 
thou  wast  not  condemned  for  want  of  a  call  to  turn  and  live, 
but  because  thou  wouldst  not  believe  it  and  obey  it;  which 
also  must  be  the  testimony  of 

Thy  serious  Monitor, 

RICHARD  BAXTER. 

December  11,  1657. 


A  CALL. 


TO    THE    UNCOXVERTEI). 


EZEKIEL  XXXIII.  11. 

Say  unto  them,  As  Hive,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  have 
no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked;  but  that 
the  wicked  turn  from  his  way  and  live:  turn  ye, 
turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways;  for  why  will  ye  die, 
O  house  of  Israel? 

It  hath  been  the  astonishing  wonder  of  many  a 
man  as  well  as  me,  to  read  in  the  holy  Scriptures 
how  few  will  be  saved,  and  that  the  greatest  part 
even  of  those  that  are  called,  will  be  everlastingly 
shut  out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  be  tor- 
mented with  the  devils  in  eternal  fire.  Infidels  be- 
lieve not  this  when  they  read  it,  and  therefore  they 
must  feel  it;  those  that  do  believe  it,  are  forced  to 
cry  out  with  Paul,  (Rom.  xi.  13,)  "  O  the  depth  of 
the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of 
God!  How  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and 
his  ways  past  finding  out!"  But  nature  itself  doth 
teach  us  all  to  lay  the  blame  of  evil  works* upon  the 
doers;  and  therefore  when  we  see  any  heinous  thing 
done,  a  principle  of  justice  doth  provoke  us  to  in- 
quire after  him  that  did  it,  that  the  evil  of  the  work 
may  return  the  evil  of  shame  upon  the  author.  If 
we  saw  a  man  killed  and  cut  in  pieces  by  the  way 
we  would  presently  ask,  Oh!  who  did  this  cruel 
5 


50  A  CALL  TO 

deed?  If  the  town  was  wilfully  set  on  fire,  you 
would  ask,  what  wicked  wretch  did  this?  So  when 
we  read  that  many  souls  will  be  miserable  in  hell 
for  ever,  we  must,  needs  think  with  ourselves,  how 
comes  this  to  pass?  and  wThose  fault  is  it?  Who  is 
it  that  is  so  cruel  as  to  be  the  cause  of  such  a  thing 
as  this  ?  and  we  can  meet  with  few  that  will  own  the 
guilt.  It  is  indeed  confessed  by  all,  that  Satan  is 
the  cause;  but  that  doth  not  resolve  the  doubt,  be- 
cause he  is  not  the  principal  cause.  He  doth  not 
force  men  to  sin,  but  tempts  them  to  it,  and  leaves 
it  to  their  own  wills  whether  they  will  do  it  or  not. 
He  doth  not  carry  men  to  an  alehouse  and  force 
open  their  mouths  and  pour  in  the  drink;  nor  doth 
he  hold  them  that  they  cannot  go  to  God's  service; 
nor  doth  he  force  their  hearts  from  holy  thoughts. 
It  lieth  therefore  between  God  himself  and  the  sin- 
ner; one  of  them  must  needs  be  the  principal  cause 
of  all  this  misery,  whichever  it  is,  for  there  is  no 
other  to  lay  it  upon;  and  God  disclaimeth  it;  he 
will  not  take  it  upon  him;  and  the  wicked  disclaim  it 
usually,  and  they  will  not  take  it  upon  them,  and  this 
is  the  controversy  that  is  here  managing  in  my  text. 
The  Lord  complaineth  of  the  people;  and  the  peo- 
ple think  it  is  the  fault  of  God.  The  same  controversy 
Is  handled,  chap,  xviii.  25;  they  plainly  say,  "  that 
the  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  equal*'  So  here  they 
say,  verse  19,  "  [f  our  transgressions  and  our  sins 
be  upon  us,  and  we  pine  away  in  them,  how  shall 
we  then  live?"  As  if  they  should  say,  if  we  must 
die,  and  be  miserable,  how  can  we  help  it?  as  if  it 
were  not  their  fault  but  God's.  Hut  God,  in  my 
text,  doth  clear  himself  of  it,  and  telleth  them  how 
they  may  help  it  if  they  will,  ami  persuadeth  them 
to  use  the  means,  and  if  they  will  not.  he  persuaded, 
he  lets  them  know  that  it  is  the  fault  of  themselves; 
and  if  this  will  not  satisfy  them,  he  will  nut  forbear 
to  punish  them.  It  is  he  that  will  he  the  .Judge,  and 
he  will  judge  them  according  to  (heir  ways;  Ihey  are 
no  judge  of  him  or  of  themselves,  as  wanting  au 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  51 

thority,  and  wisdom,  and  impartiality,  nor  is  it  the 
cavilling  and  quarrelling  with  God  that  shall  serve 
their  turn,  or  save  them  from  the  execution  of  jus- 
tice at  which  they  murmur. 

The  words  of  this  verse  contain,  1 .  God's  purg- 
'  ation  or  clearing  himself  from  the  blame  of  their  des- 
1  truction.  This  he  doth  not  by  disowning  his  law, 
that  the  wicked  shall  die,  nor  by  disowning  his  judg- 
ments and  execution  according  to  that  law,  or  giving 
them  any  hope  that  the  law  shall  not  be  executed; 
but  by  professing  that  it  is  not  their  death  that  he 
takes  pleasure  in,  but  their  returning,  rather  that 
they  may  live;  and  this  he  confirmeth  to  them  by 
his  oath.  2.  An  express  exhortation  to  the  wicked 
to  return;  wherein  God  doth  not  only  command,  but 
persuade  and  condescend  also  to  reason  the  case  with 
them.  Why  will  they  die?  The  direct  end  of  this 
exhortation  is,  that  they  may  turn  and  live.  The 
secondary  or  reserved  ends,  upon  supposition  that 
this  is  not  attained,  are  these  two:  First,  To  con- 
vince them  by  the  means  which  he  used,  that  it  is 
not  the  fault  of  God  if  they  be  miserable.  Secondly, 
To  convince  them  from  their  manifest  wilfulness  in 
rejecting  all  his  commands  and  persuasions,  that  it  is 
the  fault  of  themselves,  and  they  die,  even  because 
they  will  die. 

The  substance  of  the  texi  doth  lie  in  these  ob- 
servations following: — 

Doctrine  1.  It  is  the  unchangeable  law  of  God, 
that  wicked  men  must  turn  or  die. 

Doctrine  2.  It  is  the  promise  of  God,  that  the 
wicked  shall  live,  if  they  will  but  turn. 

Doctrine  3.  God  takes  pleasure  in  men's  conver- 
sion and  salvation,  but  not  in  their  death  or  damna- 
tion, he  had  rather  they  would  return  and  live,  than 
go  on  and  die. 

Doctrine  4.  This  is  a  most  certain  truth,  which 
because  God  would  not  have  men  to  question,  he 
hath  confirmed  it  to  them  solemnly  by  his  oath. 


52  A   CALL   TO 

Doctrine  5.  The  Lord  doth  redouble  his  com- 
mands and  persuasions  to  the  wicked  to  turn. 

Doctrine  6.  The  Lord  condescendeth  to  reason 
the  case  with  them;  and  asketh  the  wicked  why 
they  will  die? 

Doctrine  7.  If  after  all  this  the  wicked  will  not 
turn,  it  is  not  the  fault  of  God  that  they  perish  but 
of  themselves;  their  own  wilfulness  is  the  cause  of 
their  own  damnation;  they  therefore  die  because 
they  will  die. 

Having  laid  the  text  open  in  these  propositions, 
I  shall  next  speak  somewhat  of  each  of  them  in  order, 
though  very  briefly. 

Doctrine  1.     It  is  the  unchangeable  law  of  God, 
that  wicked  men  must  turn,  or  die. 

If  you  will  believe  God,  believe  this :  there  is  but 
one  of  these  two  ways  for  every  wicked  man,  either 
conversion  or  damnation.  I  know  the  wicked  will 
hardly  be  persuaded  either  of  the  truth  or  equity 
of  this.  No  wonder  if  the  guilty  quarrel  with  the 
law.  Few  men  are  apt  to  believe  that  which  they 
would  not  have  to  be  true,  and  fewer  would  have 
that  to  be  true  which  they  apprehend  to  be  against 
them.  But  it  is  not  quarrelling  with  the  law,  or  with 
the  judge,  that  will  save  the  malefactor.  Believing 
and  regarding  the  law  might  have  prevented  his  death, 
but  denying  and  accusing  it  will  but  hasten  it.  If  it 
were  not  so,  an  hundred  would  bring  their  reason 
against  the  law,  for  one  that  would  bring  his  reason 
to  the  law,  and  men  would  rather  choose  to  give 
their  reasons  why  they  should  nut  be  punished,  than 
to  hear  the  commands  and  reasons  of  their  governors 
which  require  them  to  obey.  The  law  was  not 
made  for  you  to  judge,  but  that  you  might  be  ruled 
and  judged  by  it. 

But  if  there  be  any  so  blind  as  to  venture  to  ques- 
tion either  the  truth  or  the  justice  of  this  law  of  God, 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  53 

I  shall  briefly  give  you  that  evidence  of  both,  which, 
methinks,  should  satisfy  a  reasonable  man. 

And  first,  if  you  doubt  whether  this  he  the  word 
of  God,  or  not,  besides  a  hundred  other  texts,  you 
may  be  satisfied  by  these  few: — Matt,  xviii,  3.  "  Ver- 
ily I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  be  converted  and  be- 
come as  little  children,  ye  cannot  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  God."  John  iii.  3.  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
vou,  except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God.  "  2  Cor.  v.  17.  "  If  any  man  be  in 
Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature;  old  things  are  passed 
away;  behold,  all  things  are  become  new."  Col.  iii. 
9,  10.  "  Ye  have  put  off  the  old  man  with  his  deeds, 
and  have  put  on  the  new  man,  which  is  renewed  in 
knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him." 
Heb.  xii.  14.  "Without  holiness  none  shall  see 
God."  Rom.  viii.  8,  9.  "  So  then  they  that  are  in 
the  flesh  cannot  please  God.  Now  if  any  man  have 
not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his."  Gal.  vi. 
15.  "  For  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  avail- 
eth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new  crea- 
ture." 1  Pet.  i.  3.  "According  to  his  abundant 
grace  he  hath  begotten  us  to  a  lively  hope."  Ver.  23. 
"  Being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of 
incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God,  which  liveth  and 
abideth  for  ever."  1  Pet.  ii.  1,2."  Wherefore  laying 
aside  all  malice,  and  all  guile,  and  hypocrisies,  and 
envies,  and  evil  speaking,  as  new  born  babes  desire 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  ye  may  grow 
thereby."  Psalm  ix.  17.  "  The  wicked  shall  be  turn- 
ed into  hell,  and  all  the  nations  that  fdrget  God." 
Psalm  xi.  4.  "  And  the  Lord  loveth  the  righteous, 
l)ut  the  wicked  his  soul  hateth." 

As  I  need  not  stay  to  open  these  texts  which  are 
60  plain,  so  I  think  I  need  not  add  any  more  of  that 
multitude  which  speak  the  like.  If  thou  be  a  man 
that  dost  believe  the  word  of  God,  here  is  already 
enough  to  satisfy  thee,  that  the  wicked  must  be  con- 
verted or  condemned.  You  are  already  brought  so 
far,  that  you  must  either  confess  that  this  is  true,  or 


54  k   CALL    TO 

say  plainly,  you  will  not  believe  the  word  of  God. 
And  if  once  you  be  come  to  that  pass,  there  is  but 
small  hopes  of  you:  look  to  yourselves  as  well  as  you 
can,  for  it  is  like  you  will  not  be  long  out  of  hell. 
You  would  be  ready  to  fly  in  the  face  of  him  that 
should  give  you  the  lie;  and  yet  dare  you  give  the  lie 
to  God  ?  But  if  you  tell  God  plainly  you  will  not  be- 
lieve him,  blame  him  not  if  he  never  warn  you  more, 
or  if  he  forsake  you,  and  give  you  up  as  hopeless;  for 
to  what  purpose  should  he  warn  you,  if  you  will  not 
believe  him  ?  Should  he  send  an  angel  from  heaven  to 
you,  it  seems  you  would  not  believe.  For  an  angel 
can  speak  but  the  word  of  God;  and  if  an  angel  should 
bring  you  any  other  gospel,  you  are  not  to  receive  it, 
but  to  hold  him  accursed.  Gal.  i.  8.  And  surely 
there  is  no  angel  to  be  believed  before  the  Son  of  God, 
who  came  from  the  Father  to  bring  us  this  doctrine. 
If  he  be  not  to  be  believed,  then  all  the  angels  in 
heaven  are  not  to  be  believed.  And  if  you  stand  on 
these  terms  with  God,  I  shall  leave  you  till  he  deal 
with  you  in  a  more  convincing  way.  God  hath  a 
voice  that  will  make  you  hear.  Though  he  entreat 
you  to  hear  the  voice  of  his  gospel,  he  will  make  you 
hear  the  voice  of  his  condemning  sentence,  without 
entreaty.  We  cannot  make  you  believe  against  your 
wills;  but  God  will  make  you  feel  against  your  wills. 

But  let  us  hear  what  reason  you  have  why  you 
will  not  believe  this  word  of  God,  which  tells  us  that 
the  wicked  must  be  converted,  or  condemned.  I 
know  your  reason;  it  is  because  that  you  judge  it  un- 
likely that  God  should  be  so  unmerciful:  you  think 
it  cruelty  to  damn  men  everlastingly  lor  so  small  a 
thing  as  a  sinful  life.  And  this  leads  us  to  the 
second  thing,  which  is  to  justify  the  equity  of  God 
in  his  laws  and  judgments. 

And  first,  I  think  you  will  not  deny  but  that  it  is 
most  suitable  to  an  immortal  soul,  to  be  ruled  by  laws 
that  promise  an  immortal  reward,  and  threaten  an 
endless  punishment  Otherwise  the  law  should  not 
be  suited  to  the  nature  of  the  subject,  who  will  not 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  55 

be  fully  ruled  by  any  lower  means  than  the  hopes  or 
fears  of  everlasting  things :  as  it  is  in  cases  of  temporal 

Eunishment,  if  a  law  were  now  made  that  the  most 
einous  crimes  shall  be  punished  with  a  hundred 
years'  captivity,  this  might  be  of  some  efficacy,  as  be- 
ing equal  to  our  lives.  But,  if  there  had  been  no 
other  penalties  before  the  flood,  when  men  lived 
eight  or  nine  hundred  years,  it  would  not  have  been 
sufficient,  because  men  would  know  that  they  might 
have  so  many  hundred  years  impunity  afterwards. 
So  it  is  in  our  present  case. 

2.  I  suppose  that  you  will  confess,  that  the  promise 
of  an  endless  and  inconceivable  glory  is  not  so  unsuit- 
able to  the  wisdom  of  God,  or  the  case  of  roan:  and 
why  then  should  you  not  think  so  of  the  threatening 
of  an  endless  and  unspeakable  misery! 

3.  When  you  find  it  in  the  word  of  God  that  so 
it  is,  and  so  it  will  be,  do  ve  think  yourselves  fit 
to  contradict  this  word?  Will  you  call  your  Maker 
to  the  bar,  and  examine  his  word  upon  the  accusa- 
tion of  falsehood  ?  Will  you  sit  upon  him,  and  judge 
him  by  the  law  of  your  conceits?  Are  you  wiser, 
and  better,  and  more  righteous  than  he?  Must  the 
God  of  heaven  come  to  school  to  you  to  learn  wis- 
dom? Must  Infinite  Wisdom  learn  of  folly,  and 
Infinite  Goodness  be  corrected  by  a  swinish  sinner, 
that  cannot  keep  himself  an  hour  clean?  Must  the 
Almighty  stand  at  the  bar  of  a  worm  ?  O  horrid 
arrogancy  of  senseless  dust!  shall  ever  mole,  or  clod, 
or  dunghill,  accuse  the  sun  of  darkness,  and  under- 
take to  illuminate  the  world?  Where  were  you 
when  the  Almighty  made  the  laws,  that  he  did  not 
call  you  to  his  counsel  ?  Surely  he  made  them  before 
you  were  born,  without  desiring  your  advice;  and 
you  came  into  the  world  too  late  to  reverse  them,  if 
you  could  have  done  so  great  a  work.  You  should 
have  stepped  out  of  your  nothingness  and  have  con- 
tradicted Christ  when  he  was  on  earth,  or  Moses  be- 
fore him,  or  have  saved  Adam  and  his  sinful  progeny 
from  the  threatened  death,  that  so  there  might  have 


56  A    CALL    TO 

been  no  need  of  Christ.  And  what  if  God  withdraw 
his  patience  and  sustaining  power,  and  let  you  drop 
into  hell  while  you  are  quarrelling  with  his  word, 
will  you  then  believe  that  there  is  a  hell  ? 

4.  If  sin  be  such  an  evil  that  it  requireth  the  death 
of  Christ  for  its  expiation,  no  wonder  if  it  deserve  our 
everlasting  misery. 

5.  And  if  the  sin  of  the  devils  deserved  an  endless 
torment,  why  not  also  the  sin  of  man  ? 

6.  And  methinks  you  should  perceive  that  it  is  not 
possible  for  the  best  of  men,  much  less  for  the  wick- 
ed, to  be  competent  judges  of  the  desert  of  sin. 
Alas!  we  are  both  blind  and  partial.  You  can 
never  know  fully  the  desert  of  sin,  till  you  fully  know 
the  evil  of  sin;  and  you  can  never  fully  know  the 
evil  of  sin,  till  you  fully  know,  1.  The  excellency  of 
the  soul  which  it  deformeth.  2.  And  the  excellen- 
cy of  holiness  which  it  obliterates.  3.  The  reason 
and  excellency  of  the  law  which  it  violates.  4.  The 
excellency  of  the  glory  which  it  despises.  5.  The 
excellency  and  office  of  reason  which  it  treadeth 
down.  6.  No,  nor  till  you  know  the  infinite  excel- 
lency, almightiness  and  holiness  of  that  God  against 
whom  it  is  committed.  When  you  fully  know  all 
these,  you  shall  fully  know  the  desert  of  sin  besides. 
You  know  that  the  offender  is  too  partial  to  judge  the 
law,  or  the  proceeding  of  his  judge.  We  judge  by 
feeling  which  blinds  our  reason.  We  see,  in  common 
worldly  things,  that  most  men  think  the  cause  is  right 
which  is  their  own,  and  that  all  is  wrong  that  is  done 
against  them;  and  let  the  most  wise  or  just  impartial 
friends  persuade  them  to  the  contrary,  and  it  is  all  in 
vain.  There  are  few  children  but  think  the  father 
is  unmerciful,  or  dealeth  hardly  with  them  if  he 
whip  them.  There  is  scarce  the  vi lest  wretch  but 
thinketh  the  church  doth  wrong  him  Lf  I  hey  excom- 
municate him:  or  scarce  a  thief  or  murderer  that  is 
hanged,  but  would  accuse  the  law  and  judge  of  cru- 
elty, if  that  would  serve  their  turn. 

7.  Can  you  think  that  an  unholy  soul  is  fit  for 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  57 

heaven?  Alas,  they  cannot  love  God  here,  nor  do 
him  any  service  which  he  can  accept.  They  are 
contrary Jto  God;  they  loathe  that  which  he  most 
loveth,  and  love  that" which  he  abhorreth.  They 
are  incapable  of  that  imperfect  communion  with  him 
which  his  saints  here  partake  of.  How  then  can 
they  live  in  that  perfect  love  of  him,  and  full  delights 
and  communion  with  him,  which  is  the  blessedness 
of  heaven?  Ye  do  not  accuse  yourselves  of  unmerci- 
fulness,  if  you  make  not  your  enemy  your  bosom 
counsellor;  or  if  you  take  not  your  swine  to  bed  and 
board  with  you :  no,  nor  if  you  take  away  his  life 
though  he  never  sinned ;  and  yet  you  will  blame  the 
absolute  Lord,  the  most  wise  and  gracious  Sovereign 
of  the  world,  if  he  condemn  the  unconverted  to 
perpetual  misery. 

Use. — I  beseech  you  now,  all  that  love  your  souls, 
that,  instead  of  quarrelling  with  God  and  with  his 
word,  you  will  presently  stoop  to  it,  and  use  it  for 
your  good.  All  you  that  are  yet  unconverted  in  this 
assembly,  take  this  as  the  undoubted  truth  of  God : — 
You  must,  ere  long,  be  converted  or  condemned; 
there  is  no  other  way  but  to  turn  or  die.  When  God, 
that  cannot  lie,  hath  told  you  this;  when  you  hear 
it  from  the  Maker  and  Judge  of  the  world,  it  is  time 
for  him  that  hath  ears  to  hear.  By  this  time  you 
may  see  what  you  have  to  trust  to.  You  are  but 
dead  and  damned  men,  except  you  will  be  converted. 
Should  I  tell  you  otherwise,  I  should  deceive  you 
with  a  lie.  Should  I  hide  this  from  you,  I  should 
undo  you,  and  be  guilty  of  your  blood,  as  the  verses 
before  my  text  assure  me.  Verse  8.  "  When  I  say 
to  the  wicked  man,  O  wicked  man,  thou  shalt  surely 
die;  if  thou  dost  not  speak  to  warn  the  wicked  from 
his  way,  that  wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity; 
but  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thine  hand."  You 
see  then,  though  this  be  a  rough  and  unwelcome 
doctrine,  it  is  such  as  we  must  preach,  and  you  must 
hear.     It  is  easier  to  hear  of  hell  than  feel  it.     If 


58  A    CALL    TO 

your  necessities  did  not  require  it,  we  would  not  gall 
your  tender  ears  with  truths  that  seern  so  harsh  and 
grievous.  Hell  would  not  be  so  full,  if  people  were 
but  willing  to  know  their  case,  and  to  hear  and  think 
of  it.  The  reason  why  so  few  escape  it  is,  because 
they  strive  not  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  of  con- 
version, and  go  the  narrow  way  of  holiness,  while 
they  have  time :  and  they  strive  not,  because  they 
are  not  awakened  to  a  lively  feeling  of  the  danger  they 
are  in;  and  they  are  not  awakened  because  they  are 
loth  to  hear  or  think  of  it:  and  that  is  partly  through 
foolish  tenderness  and  carnal  self  love,  and  partly  be- 
cause they  do  not  well  believe  the  word  that  threat- 
eneth  it.  If  you  will  not  thoroughly  believe  this 
truth,  methinks  the  weight  of  it  should  force  you  to 
remember  it,  and  it  should  follow  you,  and  give  you 
no  rest  till  you  are  converted.  If  you  had  but  once 
heard  this  word  by  the  voice  of  an  angel,  "  Thou 
must  be  converted,"  or  "  condemned:  turn,  or  die:  " 
would  it  not  stick  in  your  minds,  and  haunt  you 
night  and  day?  so  that  in  your  sinning  you  would  re- 
member it,  as  if  the  voice  were  still  in  your  ears, 
"  Turn,  or  die ! "  O  happy  were  your  souls  if  it  might 
thus  work  with  you  and  never  be  forgotten,  or  let 
you  alone  till  it  have  driven  home  your  hearts  to 
God.  But  if  you  will  cast  it  out  by  fbrgetfulness  or 
unbelief,  how  can  it  work  to  your  conversion  and  sal- 
vation? But  take  this  with  you  to  your  sorrow, 
though  you  may  put  this  out  of  your  minds,  you  can- 
not put  it  out  of  the  Bible,  but  there  it  will  stand  as  a 
sealed  truth,  which  you  shall  experimentally  know 
for  ever,  that  there  is  no  other  way  but  turn,  or 
die. 

O  what  is  the  matter  then  that  the  hearts  of  sin- 
nys  are  not  pierced  with  such  ;i  weighty  truth?  A 
man  would  think  now,  that  every  unconverted  soul 
that  hears  these  words  should  be  pricked  to  the 
heart,  and  think  with  themselves.  ;  This  is  my  own 
case,'  and  never  be  quiet  till  they  found  themselves 
converted.     Believe  it,  sirs,  this  drowsy  careless  tern- 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  59 

per  will  not  last  long.  Conversion  and  condemna- 
tion are  both  of  them  awakening  things,  and  one  of 
them  will  make  you  feel  ere  long.  I  can  foretell  it  as 
truly  as  if  I  saw  it  with  my  eyes,  that  either  grace  or 
hell  will  shortly  bring  these  matters  to  the  quick, 
and  make  you  say,  'What  have  I  done?  what  a 
foolish  wicked  course  have  I  taken? '  The  scornful 
and  the  stupid  state  of  sinners  will  last  but  a  little 
while;  as  soon  as  they  either  turn  or  die,  the  pre- 
sumptuous dream  will  be  at  an  end,  and  then  their 
wits  and  feeling  will  return. 

But  I  foresee  there  are  two  things  that  are  likely 
to  harden  the  unconverted,  and  make  me  lose  all  my 
labour,  except  they  can  be  taken  out  of  the  way;  and 
that  is  the  misunderstanding  on  those  two  words, 
the  wicked  and  turn.  Some  will  tlunk  to  themselves, 
'  It  is  true,  the  wicked  must  turn  or  die;  but  what  is 
that  to  me,  I  am  not  wicked;  though  I  am  a  sinner, 
all  men  are.5  Others  will  think,  '  It  is  true  that  we 
must  turn  from  our  evil  ways,  but  I  am  turned  long 
ago,  I  hope  this  is  not  now  to  do.'  And  thus  while 
wicked  men  think  they  are  not  wicked,  but  are  al- 
ready converted,  we  lose  all  our  labour  in  persuading 
them  to  turn.  I  shall  therefore,  before  I  go  any  fur- 
ther, tell  you  here  who  are  meant  by  the  wicked ; 
and  who  they  are  that  must  turn  or  die;  and  also 
what  is  meant  by  turning,  and  who  they  are  that  are 
truly  converted.  And  this  I  have  purposely  reserved 
for  this  place,  preferring  the  method  that  fits  my 
end. 

And  here  you  may  observe,  that  in  the  sense  of 
the  text,  a  wicked  man  and  a  converted  man  are 
contraries.  No  man  is  a  wicked  man  that  is  convert- 
ed; and  no  man  is  a  converted  man  that  is  wicked; 
so  that  to  be  a  wicked  man  and  to  be  an  unconverted 
man,  is  all  one;  and  therefore  in  opening  one,  we 
shall  open  both. 

Before  I  can  tell  you  what  either  wickedness  or 
conversion  is,  I  must  go  to  the  bottom,  anu  fetch  up 
the  matter  from  the  beginning. 


60  A    CALL    TO 

It  pleased  the  great  Creator  of  the  world  to  make 
three  sorts  of  living  creatures.  Angels  he  made  pure 
spirits  without  flesh,  and  therefore  he  made  them 
only  for  heaven,  and  not  to  dwell  on  earth.  Brute? 
were  made  flesh,  without  immortal  souls,  and  there- 
fore they  were  made  only  for  earth,  and  not  for  heav- 
en. Man  is  of  a  middle  nature,  hetween  both,  as 
partaking  of  both  flesh  and  spirit,  and  therefore  lie 
was  made  both  for  heaven  and  earth.  But  as  his 
flesh  is  made  to  be  but  a  servant  to  his  spirit,  so  is 
he  made  for  earth  but  as  his  passage  or  way  to  heav- 
en, and  not  that  this  should  be  his  home  or  happi- 
ness. The  blessed  state  that  man  was  made  for, 
was  to  behold  the  glorious  majesty  of  the  Lord,  and 
to  praise  him  among  his  Holy  Angels,  and  to  love 
him,  and  be  filled  with  his  love  for  ever.  And  as 
this  was  the  end  that  man  was  made  for,  so  God 
did  give  him  means  that  were  fitted  to  the  attaining 
of  it.  These  means  were  principally  two:  First 
the  right  inclination  and  disposition  of  the  mind  of 
man.  Secondly,  The  right  ordering  of  his  life  and 
practice.  For  the  first,  God  suited  the  disposition  of 
man  unto  his  end,  giving  him  such  knowledge  of  God 
as  was  fit  for  his  present  state,  and  a  heart  disposed 
and  inclined  to  Gcxl  in  holy  love.  But  yet  he  did 
not  fix  or  confirm  him  in  this  condition,  but,  having 
made  him  a  free  agent,  he  left  him  in  the  han^s  of 
his  own  free  will.  For  the  second,  God  did  that 
which  belonged  to  him;  that  is,  he  gave  him  a  per- 
fect law,  required  him  to  continue  in  the  love  of  God, 
and  perfectly  to  obey  him.  By  the  wilful  breach  of 
this  law,  man  did  not  only  forfeit  his  hopes  of  ever- 
lasting life,  but  also  turned  his  heart  from  God,  and 
fixed  it  on  these  lower  fleshly  things,  and  hereby 
blotted  out  the  spiritual  image  of  God  from  his  soul; 
so  that  man  did  both  fall  short  of  the  glory  of  God. 
which  was  his  end,  and  put  himself  out  pi  the  way 
by  which  he  should  have  attained  it,  and  this  both 
as  to  the  frame  of  his  heart,  and  of  his  life.  The 
holy  inclination  and  love  of  his  soul  to  God,  he  lost, 


and  instead  of  it  he  contracted  ar^inclinat ion  and  love 
to  the  pleasing  of  his  flesh,  or  carnal  self,  by  earthly 
things;  growing  strange  to  God  and  acquainted  with 
the  creature.  And  the  course  of  this  life  was  suited 
to  the  bent  and  inclination  of  his  heart;  he  lived  to 
his  carnal  self,  and  not  to  God;  he  sought  the  crea- 
ture, for  the  pleasing  of  his  flesh,  instead  of  seeking 
to  please  the  Lord.  With  this  nature  or  corrupt 
inclination  we  are  all  now  born  into  the  world;  "for 
who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean?"  Job 
xvi.  4.  As  a  lion  hath  a  fierce  and  cruel  nature  be- 
fore he  doth  devour;  and  an  adder  hath  a  venomous 
nature  before  she  sting,  so  in  our  infancy  we  have 
those  sinful  natures  or  inclinations,  before  we  think, 
or  speak,  or  do  amiss.  And  hence  springeth  all  the 
sin  of  our  lives;  and  not  only  so,  but  when  God  hath 
of  his  mercy,  provided  us  a  remedy,  even  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  to  be  the  Saviour  of  our  souls,  and 
bring  us  back  to  God  again,  we  naturally  love  our 
present  state,  and  are  loth  to  be  brought  out  of  it, 
and  therefore  are  set  against  the  means  of  our  recov- 
ery: and  though  custom  hath  taught  us  to  thank 
Christ  for  his  good-will,  yet  carnal  self  persuades  us 
to  refuse  his  remedies,  and  to  desire  to  be  excused, 
when  we  are  commanded  to  take  the  medicines  which 
he  offers,  and  are  called  to  forsake  all  and  follow  him 
to  God  and  glory. 

I  pray  you  read  over  this  leaf  again,  and  mark  it, 
for  in  these  few  words  you  have  a  true  description 
of  our  natural  state,  and  consequently  of  wicked  man; 
for  every  man  that  is  in  the  state  of  corrupted  nature 
is  a  wicked  man,  and  in  a  state  of  death. 

By  this  also  you  are  prepared  to  understand  what 
it  is  to  be  converted :  to  which  end  you  must  further 
know,  that  the  mercy  of  God,  not  willing  that  man 
should  perish  in  his  sin,  provided  a  remedy,  by  caus- 
ing his  Son  to  take  our  nature,  and  being,  in  one  per- 
son, God  and  man,  to  become  a  Mediator  between 
God  and  man,  and  by  dying  for  our  sins  on  the  cross, 
to  ransom  us  from  the  curse  of  God  and  the  power 


1 


62  A   CALL    TO 

of  the  devil.  And  having  thus  redeemed  us,  the 
Father  hath  delivered  us  into  his  hands  as  his  own. 
Hereupon  the  Father  and  the  Mediator  do  make  a 
new  law  and  covenant  for  man,  not  like  the  first, 
which  gave  life  to  none  but  the  perfectly  obedient, 
and  condemned  man  for  every  sin;  but  Christ  hath 
made  a  law  of  grace,  or  a  promise  of  pardon  and 
everlasting  life  to  all  that,  by  true  repentance,  and  by 
faith  in  Christ,  are  converted  unto  God;  like  an  act 
of  oblivion,  which  is  made  by  a  prince  to  a  company 
of  rebels,  on  condition  they  will  lay  down  arms  and 
come  in,  and  be  loyal  subjects  for  the  time  to  come. 

But,  because  the  Lord  knoweth  that  the  heart  of 
man  is  grown  so  wicked,  that,  for  all  this,  men  will 
not  accept  of  the  remedy  if  they  be  left  to  themselves, 
therefore,  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  undertaken  it  as  his 
office  to  inspire  the  Apostles,  and  seal  up  the  Scrip- 
tures by  miracles  and  wonders,  and  to  illuminate  and 
convert  the  souls  of  the  elect. 

So  by  this  much  you  see,  that  as  there  are  three 
persons  in  the  Trinity,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  so  each  of  these  persons  have 
their  several  works,  which  are  eminently  ascribed 
to  them. 

The  Father's  works  were,  to  create  us,  to  rule  us, 
as  his  rational  creatures,  by  the  law  of  nature,  and 
judge  us  thereby;  and  in  mercy  to  provide  us  a  Re- 
deemer when  we  were  lost;  and  to  send  his  Son,  and 
accept  his  ransom. 

The  works  of  the  Son  for  us  were  these:  to  ran- 
som and  redeem  us  by  his  suffering  and  righteous- 
ness; to  give  out  the  promise  or  law  of  grace,  and 
rule  and  judge  the  world  as  their  Redeemer,  on  terms 
of  grace;  and  to  make  intercession  for  us,  that  the 
benefits  of  his  death  may  be  communicated;  and  to 
send  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  the  Father  also  doth 
by  the  Son. 

The  works  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  us,  are  these: 
to  indite  the  holy  Scriptures,  by  inspiring  and  guid- 
ing the  Apostles,  and  sealing  the  word,  by  his  mi 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  63 

raculous  gifts  and  works,  and  the  illuminating  and 
exciting  the  ordinary  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  so 
enabling  them  and  helping  them  to  publish  that 
word;  and  by  the  same  word  illuminating  and  con- 
verting the  souls  of  men.  So  that  as  you  could  not 
have  been  reasonable  creatures,  if  the  Father  had 
not  created  you,  nor  have  had  any  access  to  God,  if 
the  Son  had  not  redeemed  you,  so  neither  can  you 
have  a  part  in  Christ,  or  be  saved,  except  the  Holy 
Ghost  do  sanctify  you. 

So  that  by  this  time  you  may  see  the  several  causes 
of  this  work.  The  Father  sendeth  the  Son :  the  Son 
redeems  us  and  maketh  the  promise  of  grace:  the 
Holy  Ghost  inditeth  and  sealeth  this  gospel:  the 
Apostles  are  the  secretaries  of  the  Spirit  to  write  it; 
the  preachers  of  the  gospel  to  proclaim  it,  and  per- 
suade men  to  open  it:  and  the  Holy  Ghost  doth  make 
their  preaching  effectual,  by  opening  the  hearts  of 
men  to  entertain  it.  And  all  this  to  repair  the  image 
of  God  upon  the  soul,  and  to  set  the  heart  upon  God 
again,  and  take  it  off  the  creature  and  carnal  self  to 
which  it  is  revolted,  and  so  to  turn  the  current  of  the 
life  into  a  heavenly  course,  which  before  was  earthly; 
and  all  this  by  entertaining  of  Christ  by  faith,  who 
is  the  Physician  of  the  soul. 

By  what  I  have  said,  you  may  see  what  it  is  to  be 
wicked,  and  what  it  is  to  be  converted;  which,  I 
think,  will  be  yet  plainer  to  you,  if  I  describe  them 
as  consisting  of  their  several  parts.  And  for  the 
first,  a  wicked  man  may  be  known  by  these  three 
things : — 

First,  He  is  one  who  placeth  his  chief  affections 
on  earth,  and  loveth  the  creature  more  than  God,  and 
his  fleshly  prosperity  above  the  heavenly  febcity. 
He  savoureth  the  things  of  the  flesh,  but  neither 
discerneth  nor  savoureth  the  things  of  the  Spirit; 
though  he  will  say,  that  heaven  is  better  than  earth, 
yet  he  doth  not  really  so  esteem  it  to  himself.  If  he 
might  be  sure  of  earth,  he  would  let  go  heaven,  and 
had  rather  stay  here  than  be  removed  thither.     A 


64  A    CALL    TO 

life  of  perfect  holiness  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  in  his 
love  and  praises  for  ever  in  heaven,  doth  not  find  such 
liking  with  his  heart,  as  a  life  of  health,  and  wealth, 
and  honour  here  upon  earth.  And  though  he  falsely 
profess  that  he  loves  God  above  all,  yet  indeed  he 
never  felt  the  power  of  divine  love  within  him,  but 
his  mind  is  more  set  on  the  world  or  fleshly  pleasures 
than  on  God.  In  a  word,  whoever  loves  earth  above 
heaven,  and  fleshly  prosperity  more  than  God,  is  a 
wicked,  unconverted  man. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  converted  man  is  illuminated 
to  discern  the  loveliness  of  God,  and  so  far  believeth 
the  glory  that  is  to  be  had  with  God,  that  his  heart 
is  taken  up  with  it  and  set  more  upon  it  than  any 
thing  in  this  world.  He  had  rather  see  the  face  of 
God,  and  live  in  his  everlasting  love  and  praises,  than 
have  all  the  wealth  or  pleasures  of  the  world.  He 
seeth  that  all  things  else  are  vanity,  and  nothing  but 
God  can  fill  the  soul;  and  therefore  let  the  world  go 
which  way  it  will,  he  layeth  up  his  treasures  and 
hopes  in  heaven,  and  for  that  he  is  resolved  to  let  go 
all.  fAs  the  fire  doth  mount  upward,  and  the  needle 
that  is  touched  with  the  loadstone  still  turns  to  the 
north,  so  the  converted  soul  is  inclined  unto  God. 
Nothing  else  can  satisfy  him :  nor  can  he  find  any 
content  and  rest  but  in  his  love.  In  a  word,  all  that 
are  converted  do  esteem  and  love  God  better  than 
all  the  world,  and  the  heavenly  felicity  is  dearer  to 
them  than  their  fleshly  prosperity.  The  proof  of 
what  I  have  said  you  may  find  in  these  places  «>f 
Scripture:  Phil.  iii.  18,  21.  Matt.  vi.  19,  20,  21. 
Col.  iii.  1—4.  Rom.  viii.  5—9, 18,  23.  Psalm  lxxiii. 
25,  26. 

Secondly,  A  wicked  man  is  one  that  makes  it  the 
principal  business  of  his  life  to  prosper  in  the  world, 
and  attain  his  fleshly  ends.  And  though  he  may 
read,  and  hear,  and  do  much  in  the  outward  duties 
of  religion,  and  forbear  disgraceful  sins,  yet  this  is  all 
but  by  the  by,  and  he  never  makes  it  the  principal 
business  of  his  life  to  please  God,  and  attain  ever- 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  65 

lasting  glory,  and  puts  off  God  with  the  leavings 
of  the  worid,  and  gives  him  no  more  service  than 
the  flesh  can  spare,  for  he  will  not  part  with  all  for 
heaven. 

On  the  contrary,  a  converted  man  is  one  that 
makes  it  the  principal  care  and  business  of  his  life  to 
please  God,  and  to  be  saved,  and  takes  all  the  bless- 
ings of  this  life  but  as  accommodations  in  his  journey 
towards  another  life,  and  useth  the  creature  in  sub- 
ordination to  God;  he  loves  a  holy  life,  and  longs  to 
be  more  holy;  he  hath  no  sin  but  what  he  hateth, 
and  longeth,  and  prayeth,  and  striveth  to  be  rid 
of.  The  drift  and  bent  of  his  life  is  for  God,  and  if 
he  sin,  it  is  contrary  to  the  very  bent  of  his  heart  and. 
life;  and  therefore  he  rises  again  and  lamenteth  it, 
and  dares  not  wilfully  live  in  any  known  sin.  There 
is  nothing  in  this  world  so  dear  to  him  but  he  can  give 
it  up  to  God,  and  forsake  it  for  him  and  the  hopes  of 
glorv.  All  this  you  may  see  in  Col.  iii.  1 — 5.  Matt, 
vi.  20,  33.  Luke  xviii.  22,  23,  29.  Luke  xiv.  18,  24, 
26,  27.    Rom.  viii.  13.   Gal.  v.  24.    Luke  xii.  21,  &c. 

Thirdly,  The  soul  of  a  wicked  man  did  never  tru- 
ly discern  and  relish  the  mystery  of  redemption,  nor 
thankfully  entertain  an  offered  Saviour,  nor  is  he 
taken  up  with  the  love  of  the  Redeemer,  nor  willing 
to  be  ruled  by  him  as  the  Physician  of  his  soul,  that  he 
may  be  saved  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  his  sins, 
and  recovered  to  God ;  but  his  heart  is  insensible  of 
this  unspeakable  benefit,  and  is  quite  against  the 
healing  means  by  which  he  should  be  recovered. 
Though  he  may  be  willing  to  be  outwardly  religious, 
yet  he  never  resigns  up  his  soul  to  Christ,  and  to 
the  motions  and  conduct  of  his  word  and  Spirit. 

On  the  contrary,  the  converted  soul  having  felt 
himself  undone  by  sin,  and  perceiving  that  he  hath 
lost  his  peace  with  God  and  hopes  of  heaven,  and  is 
in  danger  of  everlasting  misery,  doth  thankfully  en- 
tertain the  tidings  of  redemption,  and  believing  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  as  his  only  Saviour,  resigns  himself  up 
to  him  for  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  and 
6 


66  A   CALL   TO 

redemption  He  takes  Christ  as  the  life  of  his  soul, 
and  lives  by  him,  and  uses  him  as  a  salve  for  every 
sore,  admiring  the  wisdom  and  love  of  God  in  this 
wonderful  work  of  man's  redemption.  In  a  word, 
Christ  doth  even  dwell  in  his  heart  by  faith,  and 
the  life  that  he  now  liveth  is  by  the  faith  of  the 
Son  of  God,  that  loved  him,  and  gave  himself  for  him ; 
yea,  it  is  not  so  much  he  that  liveth,  as  Christ  in 
him.  For  these,  see  Job  i.  11,  12.  and  iii.  19,  20. 
Rom.  viii.  9.  Phil.  iii.  7—10.  Gal.  ii.  20.  Job  xv. 
2,  3,  4.     1  Cor.  i.  20.  ii.  2. 

You  see  now  in  plain  terms  from  the  Word  of  God, 
who  are  the  wicked  and  who  are  the  converted.  Ig- 
norant people  think,  that  if  a  man  be  no  swearer,  nor 
curser,  nor  railer,  nor  drunkard,  nor  fornicator,  nor 
extortioner,  nor  wrong  any  body  in  his  dealings, 
and  if  he  come  to  church  and  say  his  prayers, 
he  cannot  be  a  wicked  man.  Or  if  a  man  that  hath 
been  guilty  of  drunkenness,  swearing  or  gaming,  or 
the  like  vices,  do  but  forbear  them  for  the  time  to 
come,  they  think  that  this  is  a  converted  man.  Oth- 
ers think  if  a  man  that  hath  been  an  enemy,  and 
scorner  at  godliness,  do  but  approve  it,  and  be  hated 
for  it  by  the  wicked,  as  the  godly  are,  that  this  must 
needs  be  a  converted  man.  And  some  are  so  foolish 
as  to  think  that  they  are  converted,  by  taking  up  some 
new  opinion,  and  falling  into  some  dividing  party. 
And  some  think,  if  they  have  but  been  affrighted  by 
the  fears  of  hell,  and  had  convictions  of  conscience; 
and  thereupon  have  purposed  and  promised  amend- 
ment, and  take  up  a  life  of  civil  behaviour,  and  out- 
ward religion,  that  this  must  needs  be  true  conver- 
sion. And  these  are  the  poor  deluded  souls  that, 
are  like  to  lose  the  benefit  of  all  our  persuasions;  and 
when  they  hear  that  the  Wicked  must  turn  or  die, 
they  think  that  this  is  not  spoken  t<>  them,  for  they 
are  not  wicked,  but  are  turned  already.  And  there- 
fore it  is  that  Christ  told  some  of  the  rulers  of  the 
Jews  who  were  greater  and  more  civil  than  the  com- 
mon people,  that  "  publicans  and  harlots  go  into  the 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  67 

kingdom  of  Christ  before  them."  Matt.  xxi.  31.  Not 
that  a  harlot  or  gross  sinner  can  be  saved  without 
conversion;  but  because  it  was  easier  to  make  these 
gross  sinners  perceive  their  sin  and  misery,  and  the 
necessity  of  a  change,  than  the  more  civil  sort,  who 
'  delude  themselves  by  thinking  that  they  are  convert- 
ed already,  when  they  are  not. 

O  sirs,  conversion  is  another  kind  of  work  than 
most  are  aware  of.  It  is  not  a  small  matter  to  bring 
an  earthly  mind  to  heaven,  and  to  show  man  the 
amiable  excellencies  of  God,  till  he  be  taken  up  in 
such  love  to  him  that  can  never  be  quenched;  to 
break  the  heart  for  sin,  and  make  him  fly  for  refuge 
to  Christ,  and  thankfully  embrace  him  as  the  life 
of  his  soul;  to  have  the  very  drift  and  bent  of  the 
heart  and  life  changed;  so  that  a  man  renounceth 
that  which  he  took  for  his  felicity,  and  placeth  his* 
felicity  where  he  never  did  before;  and  lives  not 
to  the  same  end,  and  drives  not  on  the  same  design 
in  the  world,  as  he  formerly  did.  In  a  word,  he 
that  is  in  Christ  is  a  "  new  creature:  old  things  are 
passed  away:  behold,  all  things  are  become  new." 
2.  Cor.  v.  17.  He  hath  a  new  understanding,  a  new 
will  and  resolution,  new  sorrows,  and  desires,  and  love, 
and  delight;  new  thoughts,  new  speeches,  new  com- 
pany, (if  possible,)  and  a  new  conversation.  Sin,  that 
before  was  a  jesting  matter  with  him,  is  now  so 
odious  and  terrible  to  him,  that  he  flies  from  it  as 
from  death.  The  world,  that  was  so  lovely  in  his 
eyes,  doth  now  appear  but  as  vanity  and  vexation: 
God,  that  was  before  neglected,  is  now  the  only 
happiness  of  his  soul :  before  he  was  forgotten,  and 
every  lust  preferred  before  him,  but  now  he  is  set 
next  the  heart,  and  all  things  must  give  place  to 
him;  the  heart  is  taken  up  in  the  attendance  and 
observance  of  him,  is  grieved  when  he  hides  his 
face,  and  never  thinks  itself  well  without  him.  Christ 
himself,  that  was  wont  ito  be  slightly  thought  of,  is 
now  his  only  hope  and  refuge,  and  he  lives  upon  him 
as  on  his  daily  bread;  he  cannot  pray  without  him, 


63  A    CALL    TO 

nor  rejoice  without  him,  nor  think,  nor  speak,  nor 
live  without  him.  Heaven  itself,  that  before  was 
looked  upon  hut  as  a  tolerable  reserve,  which  he 
hoped  might  serve  his  turn  better  than  hell,  when 
he  could  not  stay  any  longer  in  the  world,  is  now 
taken  for  his  home,  the  place  of  his  only  hope  and 
rest,  where  he  shall  see,  and  love,  and  praise  that 
God  that  hath  his  heart  already.  Hell,  that  did 
seem  before  but  as  a  bugbear  to  frighten  men  from 
sin,  doth  now  appear  to  be  a  real  misery,  that  is  not 
to  be  ventured  on,  nor  jested  with.  The  works  of 
holiness,  of  which  belbre  he  was  weary,  and  thought 
to  be  more  than  needful,  are  now  both  his  rec- 
reation, and  his  business,  and  the  trade  that  he  lives 
upon.  The  Bible,  which  was  before  to  him  but  al- 
most as  a  common  book,  is  now  as  the  law  of  God; 
as  a  letter  written  to  him,  and  subscribed  with  the 
name  of  the  Eternal  Majesty;  it  is  the  rule  of  his 
thoughts,  and  words,  and  deeds;  the  commands  are 
binding,  the  threats  are  dreadful,  and  the  promises 
of  it  speak  life  to  his  soul.  The  godly,  that  seemed 
to  him  but  like  other  men,  are  now  the  most  excel- 
lent and  happy  on  earth.  And  the  wicked  that  were 
his  playfellows,  are  now  his  grief;  and  he  that  could 
laugh  at  their  sins,  is  readier  now  to  weep  for  their 
sin  and  misery: — Psalm  xvi.  3.  xv.  4.  Phil.  iii.  18. 
"  But  to  the  saints  that  are  in  the  earth,  and  to  the 
excellent,  in  whom  is  all  my  delight."  "  In  whose 
eyes  a  vile  person  is  contemned;  but  he  honoureth 
them  that  fear  the  Lord:  he  that  sweareth  to  his 
own  hurt,  and  changeth  not."  "  For  many  walk, 
of  whom  I  have  told  you  often,  and  now  tell  you 
even  weeping,  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the  cross 
of  Christ."  In  short,  he  hath  a  new  end  in  his 
thoughts,  and  a  new  way  in  his  endeavours,  and 
therefore  his  heart  and  life  are  new.  Before,  his  car- 
nal self  was  his  end,  and  his  pleasure  and  world- 
ly profits  and  credit  were  his  way;  and  now  God  and 
everlasting  glory  are  his  end,  and  Christ,  and  the  Spir- 
it, and  word,  and  ordinances.     Holiness  to  God,  and 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  Wf 

righteousness  and  mercy  to  men,  these  are  his  way. 
Before,  self  was  the  chief  ruler,  to  which  the  mat- 
ters of  God  and  conscience  must  stoop  and  give 
place;  and  now  God,  in  Christ,  by  the  Spirit,  word 
and  ministry,  is  the  chief  ruler,  to  whom  both  self 
and  all  the  matters  of  self,  must  give  place.  So  that 
this  is  not  a  change  in  one,  or  two,  or  twenty  points, 
but  in  the  whole  soul,  and  in  the  very  end  and  bent  of 
the  conversation.  A  man  may  step  out  of  one  path 
into  another,  and  yet  have  his  face  the  same  way, 
and  be  still  going  towards  the  same  place;  but  it  is 
another  matter  to  turn  quite  back,  and  take  his 
journey  quite  the  contrary  way,  to  a  contrary  place. 
So  it  is  here,  a  man  may  turn  from  drunkenness  to 
thrifliness,  and  forsake  his  good  fellowship,  and  other 
gross  disgraceful  sins,  and  set  upon  some  duties  of 
religion,  and  yet  be  still  going  to  the  same  end  as  be- 
fore, intending  his  carnal  self  above  all,  and  giving  it 
still  the  government  of  his  soul;  but  when  he  is  con- 
verted, this  self  is  denied,  and  taken  down,  and  God 
is  set  up,  and  his  face  is  turned  the  contrary  way : 
and  he  that  before  was  addicted  to  himself,  and  lived 
to  himself,  is  now,  by  sanctification,  devoted  to  God, 
and  liveth  unto  God.  Before,  he  asked  himself 
what  he  should  do  with  his  time,  his  parts,  and  his 
estate,  and  for  himself  he  used  them;  but  now  he 
asketh  God  what  he  shall  do  with  them,  and  useth 
them  for  him.  Before  he  would  please  God  so  far 
as  might  accord  with  the  pleasure  of  his  flesh  and 
carnal  self,  but  not  to  any  great  displeasure  of  them; 
but  now  he  will  please  God,  let  flesh  and  self  be 
never  so  much  displeased.  This  is  the  great  change 
that  God  will  make  upon   all  that  shall  be  saved. 

You  can  say,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  our  sanc- 
tifier:  but  do  you  know  what  sanctification  is? 
Why,  this  is  what  I  have  now  opened  to  you;  and 
every  man  and  woman  in  the  world  must  have  this, 
or  be  condemned  to  everlasting  misery.  They  must 
turn  or  die. 

Do  you  believe  all  this,  sirs,  or  do  you  not? 


70  A    CALL    TO 

Surely  you  dare  not  say,  you  do  not;  for  it  is  past 
a  doubt  or  denial.  These  are  not  controversies, 
where  one  learned  pious  man  is  of  one  mind,  and 
another  of  another;  where  one  party  saith  this,  and 
the  other  saith  that.  Every  sect  among  us  that 
deserve  to  be  called  Christians,  are  all  agreed  in 
this  that  I  have  said;  and  if  you  will  not  believe 
the  God  of  truth,  and  that  in  a  case  where  every 
sect  and  party  do  believe  him,  you  are  utterly 
inexcusable. 

But  if  you  do  believe  this,  how  comes  it  to  pass 
that  you  live  so  quietly  in  an  unconverted  state? 
Do  you  know  that  you  are  converted?  and  can  you 
find  this  wonderful  change  upon  your  souls?  Have 
you  been  thus  born  again,  and  made  new?  Are  not 
these  strange  matters  to  many  of  you,  and  such  as 
you  never  felt  within  yourselves?  If  you  cannot  tell 
the  day  or  week  of  your  change,  or  the  very  sermon 
that  converted  you,  yet  do  you  find  that  the  work  is 
done,  and  such  a  change  indeed  there  is,  and  that 
you  have  such  hearts  as  are  before  described  ?  Alas ! 
the  most  do  follow  their  worldly  business,  and  little 
trouble  their  minds  with  such  thoughts.  And  if 
they  be  restrained  from  scandalous  sins,  and  can  say, 
"Tarn  no  whoremonger,  nor  thief,  nor  curser,  nor 
swearer,  nor  tippler,  nor  extortioner;  I  go  to  church, 
and  say  my  prayers;"  they  think  that  this  is  true 
conversion,  and  they  shall  be  saved  as  well  as  any. 
Alas!  this  is  foolish  cheating  of  yourselves.  This 
is  too  much  contempt  of  an  endless  glory,  and  too 
gross  neglect  of  your  immortal  souls.  Can  you  make 
so  light  of  heaven  and  hell?  Your  corpse  will  shortly 
lie  in  the  dust,  and  angels  or  devils  will  presently 
seize  upon  your  sours;  and  every  man  or  woman  of 
you  all  will  shortly  be  among  other  company,  and 
in  another  case  than  now  you  are.  You  will  dwell 
in  these  houses  but  a  little  longer:  you  will  work  in 
your  shops  and  fields  but  a  little  longer;  you  will  sit 
in  these  seats  and  dwell  on  this  earth  but  a  little  long- 
er; you  will  see  with  these  eyes,  and  hear  with  these 


THE   UNCONVERTED. 


71 


ears,  and  speak  with  these  tongues,  but  a  little  long- 
er, till  the  resurrection-day;  and  can  you  make  shift 
to  forget  this?  O  what  a  place  will  you  shortly  be 
in  of  joy  or  torment !  O  what  a  sight  will  you  shortly 
see  in  heaven  or  hell !  O  what  thoughts  will  shortly 
fill  your  hearts  with  unspeakable  delight  or  horror ! 
What  work  will  you  be  employed  in !  to  praise  the 
Lord  with  saints  and  angels,  or  to  cry  out  in  fire  un- 
quenchable with  devils;  and  should  all  this  be  forgot- 
ten ?  And  all  this  will  be  endless,  and  sealed  up  by 
an  unchangeable  decree.  Eternity,  eternity  will  be 
the  measure  of  your  joys  or  sorrows:  and  can  this  be 
forgotten?  And  all  this  is  true,  sirs,  most  certainly 
true.  When  you  have  gone  up  and  down  a  little 
longer,  and  slept  and  awaked  a  few  times  more,  you 
will  be  dead  and  gone,  and  find  all  true  that  now  I 
tell  you:  and  yet  canyon  now  so  much  forget  it? 
You  shall  then  remember  that  you  heard  this  ser- 
n ion,  and  that,  this  day  or  this  place,  you  wrere  re- 
minded of  these  things,  and  perceive  them  matters  a 
thousand  times  greater  than  either  you  or  I  could 
iiere  conceive;  and  yet  shall  they  be  now  so  much 
forgotten? 

Beloved  friends,  if  the  Lord  had  not  awakened  me 
to  believe  and  lay  to  heart  these  things  myself,  I 
should  have  remained  in  a  dark  and  selfish  state, 
and  have  perished  for  ever;  but  if  he  have  truly 
made  me  sensible  of  them,  it  will  constrain  me  to 
compassionate  you  as  well  as  myself.  If  your  eyes 
were  so  far  opened  as  to  see  hell,  and  you  saw  your 
neighbours,  that  were  unconverted,  dragged  thither 
with  hideous  cries;  though  they  were  such  as  you 
accounted  honest  people  on  earth,  and  feared  no  such 
danger  themselves,  such  a  sight  would  make  you 
go  home  and  think  of  it,  and  think  again,  and  make 
you  warn  all  about  you,  as  that  lost  worldling 
(Luke  xvi.  28.)  wrould  have  had  his  brethren  warn- 
ed, lest  they  come  to  that"  place  of  torment.  Why, 
faith  is  a  kind  of  sight;  it  is  the  eye  of  the  soul,  the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen.     If  I  believe  God,  it  is 


^2  A    CALL    TO 

next  to  seeing;  and  therefore  I  beseech  you  excuse 
me,  if  I  he  half  as  earnest  with  you  about  these  mat- 
ters, as  if  I  had  seen  them.  If  I  must  die  to-mor- 
row, and  it  were  in  my  power  to  come  again  from 
another  world,  and  tell  you  what  I  had  seen,  would 
you  not  be  willing  to  hear  me?  and  would  you  not 
believe,  and  regard  what  I  should  tell  you?  If  I  might 
preach  one  sermon  to  you  after  I  am  dead,  and  have 
seen  what  is  done  in  the  world  to  come,  would  you 
not  have  me  plainly  speak  the  truth,  and  would  you 
not  crowd  to  hear  me,  and  would  you  not  lay  it  to 
heart?  But  this  must  not  be;  God  hath  his  appointed 
way  of  teaching  you  by  Scriptures  and  ministers,  and 
he  will  not  humour  unbelievers  so  far  as  to  send  men 
from  the  dead  to  them,  and  alter  his  established 
way;  if  any  man  quarrel  with  the  sun,  God  will  not 
humour  him  so  far  as  to  set  up  a  clearer  light. 
Friends,  I  beseech  you  regard  me  now,  as  you  would 
do  if  I  should  come  from  the  dead  to  you;  for  I  can 
give  you  as  full  assurance  of  the  truth  of  what  I  say 
to  you,  as  if  I  had  been  there  and  seen  it  with  my 
eyes;  for  it  is  possible  for  one  from  the  dead  to  de- 
ceive you;  but  Jesus  Christ  can  never  deceive  you; 
the  Word  of  God  delivered  in  Scripture,  and  seal- 
ed by  miracles,  and  holy  workings  of  the  Spirit, 
can  never  deceive  you.  Believe  this  or  believe 
nothing.  Believe  and  obey  this,  or  you  are  undone. 
Now,  as  ever  you  believe  the  word  of  God,  and  as 
ever  you  care  for  the  salvation  of  your  souls,  let  me 
beg  of  you  this  reasonable  request,  and  I  beseech 
you  (feny  me  not:  That  you  would,  without  any 
more  delay,  when  you  are  gone  from  hence,  remem- 
ber what  you  have  heard,  and  enter  into  an  earnest 
search  of  your  hearts,  and  say  to  yourselves — It  is 
so  indeed;  must  I  turn  or  die?"  Must  I  be  converted 
or  condemned  ?  It  is  time  for  me  then  to  look  about 
me  before  it  be  too  late.  O  why  did  not  I  look  after 
this  till  now?  Why  did  I  venturously  put  off  or  neg- 
lect so  great  a  business?  Was  I  awake,  or  in  my 
wits?  O  blessed  God,  what  a  mercy  it  is  that  thou 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  73 

didst  not  cut  off  my  life  all  this  while,  before  I  had 
any  certain  hope  of  eternal  life !  Well,  God  forbid 
that  I  should  neglect  this  work  any  longer.  What 
state  is  my  soul  in?  Am  I  converted,  or  am  I  not? 
Was  ever  such  a  change  or  work  done  upon  my 
soul  ?  Have  I  been  illuminated  by  the  word  and  Spirit 
of  the  Lord,  to  see  the  odiousness  of  sin,  the  need  of 
a  Saviour,  the  love  of  Christ,  and  the  excellencies  of 
God  and  glory?  Is  my  heart  broken  or  humbled 
within  me,  for  my  former  life?  Have  I  thankfully 
entertained  my  Saviour  and  Lord,  that  offered  him- 
self with  pardon  and  life  for  my  soul?  Do  I  hate  my 
former  sinful  life,  and  the  remnant  of  every  sin  that 
is  in  me?  Do  I  fly  from  them  as  my  deadly  enemies? 
Do  I  give  up  myself  to  a  life  of  holiness  and  obedi- 
ence to  God?  Do  I  love  it,  and  delight  in  it?  Can  1 
truly  say  that  I  am  dead  to  the  world  and  carnal  self, 
and  that  I  live  for  God  and  the  glory  which  he  hath 
promised  ?  Hath  heaven  more  of  my  estimation  and 
resolution  than  earth?  And  is  God  the  dearest  and 
highest  in  my  soul?  Once,  I  am  sure,  I  lived  princi- 
pally to  the  world  and  flesh,  and  God  had  nothing 
but  some  heartless  services,  which  the  world  could 
spare,  and  which  were  the  leavings  of  the  flesh.  Is 
my  heart  now  turned  another  way?  Have  I  a  new 
design  and  a  new  end,  and  a  new  train  of  holy  affec- 
tions? Have  I  set  my  hopes  and  heart  in  heaven? 
And  is  it  not  the  scope,  and  design,  and  bent  of  my 
heart,  to  get  well  to  heaven  and  see  the  glorious  face 
of  God,  and  live  in  his  love  and  praise?  And  when  1 
sin,  is  it  against  the  habitual  bent  and  design  of  my 
heart?  And  do  I  conquer  all  gross  sins,  and  am  I 
weary  and  willing  to  be  rid  of  my  infirmities?  This 
is  the  state  of  converted  souls.  And  thus  it  must  be 
with  me,  or  I  must  perish.  Is  it  thus  with  me  in- 
deed, or  is  it  not?  It  is  time  to  get  this  doubt  resolv- 
ed before  the  dreadful  Judge  resolve  it.  I  am  not 
such  a  stranger  to  my  own  heart  and  life,  but  I  may 
somewhat  perceive  whether  I  am  thus  converted  or 
not:  if  I  be  not,  it  will  do  me  no  good  to  flatter  my 
7 


74  A    CALL    TO 

soul  with  false  conceits  and  hopes.  I  am  resolved 
no  more  to  deceive  myself,  but  endeavour  to  know 
truly  whether  I  be  converted  or  not :  that  if  I  be,  I 
may  rejoice  in  it,  and  glorify  my  gracious  Lord,  and 
comfortably  go  on  till  I  reach  the  crown:  and  if  I  am 
not,  I  may  set  myself  to  beg  and  seek  after  the  grace 
that  should  convert  me,  and  may  turn  without  any 
more  delay.  For,  if  I  find  in  time  that  I  am  out  of 
the  way,  by  the  help  of  Christ  I  may  turn  and  be  re- 
covered, but  if  I  stay  till  either  my  heart  be  forsaken 
of  God  in  blindness  or  hardness,  or  till  I  be  catched 
away  by  death,  it  is  then  too  late.  There  is  no  place 
for  repentance  and  conversion  then;  I  know  it  must 
be  now  or  never. 

Sirs,  this  is  my  request  to  you,  that  you  will  but 
take  your  hearts  to  task,  and  thus  examine  them  till 
you  see  if  it  may  be,  whether  you  are  converted  or 
not  P  And  if  you  cannot  find  it  out  by  your  own  en- 
deavours, go  to  your  ministers,  if  they  be  faithful 
and  experienced  men,  and  desire  their  assistance. 
The  matter  is  great,  let  not  bashfulness,  nor  care- 
lessness hinder  you.  They  are  set  over  you,  to  ad- 
vise you,  for  the  saving  of  your  soul,  as  physicians 
advise  you  for  the  curing  of  your  bodies.  It  undoes 
many  thousands  that  they  think  they  are  in  the  way 
to  salvation,  when  they  are  not;  and  think  that  they 
are  converted  when  it  is  no  such  thing.  And  then 
when  we  call  to  them  daily  to  turn,  they  go  away  as 
they  came;  and  think  that  this  concerns  not  them; 
for  they  are  turned  already,  and  hope  they  shall  do 
well  enough  in  the  way  that  they  are  in,  at  least,  it' 
they  pick  the  fairest  path,  and  avoid  some  of  the  foul- 
est steps,  when,  alas!  all  this  while  they  live  but 
to  the  world  and  flesh,  and  are  strangers  to  God 
and  eternal  life;  and  are  quite  out  of  the  way  to 
heaven.  And  all  this  because  we  cannot  persuade 
them  to  a  few  serious  thoughts  of  their  condition, 
and  to  spend  a  few  hours  in  the  examining  of  their 
states.  Are  there  not  many  sell -deceivers  who  hear 
me  this  day,    that   never  bestowed  one  hour,  or 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  75 

quarter  of  an  hour,  in  all  their  lives,  to  exam- 
ine their  souls,  and  try  whether  they  are  truly 
converted  or  not?  O  merciful  God,  that  will  care 
for  such  wretches  that  care  no  more  for  themselves, 
and  that  will  do  so  much  to  save  them  from  hell, 
and  help  them  to  heaven,  who  will  do  so  little  for  it 
themselves !  If  all  that  are  in  the  way  to  hell,  and 
in  the  state  of  damnation,  did  but  know  it,  they 
eta  rat  not  cgntinue  in  it.  The  greatest  hope  that  the 
devil  hath  of  bringing  you  to  damnation  without  a 
rescue,  is  by  keeping  you  blindfold,  and  ignorant  of 
your  state,  and  making  you  believe  that  you  may  do 
well  enough  in  the  way  that  you  are  in.  If  you  knew 
that  you  were  out  of  the  way  to  heaven,  and  were 
lost  for  ever  if  you  should  die  as  you  are;  durst  you 
sleep  another  night  in  the  state  that  you  are  in? 
Durst  you  live  another  day  in  it?  Could  you  heart- 
ily laugh,  or  be  merry  in  such  a  state?  What !  And 
m  >t  know  but  you  may  be  snatched  away  to  hell  in 
an  hour?  Sure  it  would  constrain  you  to  forsake 
your  former  company  and  courses,  and  to  betake 
yourselves  to  the  ways  of  holiness,  and  the  commu- 
nion of  saints.  Sure  it  would  drive  you  to  cry  to 
God  for  a  new  heart,  and  to  seek  help  of  those  that 
are  fit  to  counsel  you.  There  are  none  of  you  that 
cares  not  for  being  damned.  Well,  then,  I  beseech 
you  presently  make  inquiry  into  your  hearts,  and 
give  them  no  rest  till  you  find  out  your  condition, 
that  if  it  be  good,  you  may  rejoice  in  it,  and  go  on; 
and  if  it  be  bad,  you  may  presently  look  about  you 
for  recovery,  as  men  that  believe  they  must  turn  or 
die.  What  say  you,  sirs, will  you  resolve  and  prom- 
o  be  at  thus  much  labour  for  your  own  souls? 
Will  you  fall  upon  this  self-examination  when  you 
come  home?  Is  my  request  unreasonable?  Your 
consciences  know  it  is  not.  Resolve  on  it  then,  before 
you  stir;  knowing  how  much  it  concerneth  your  souls. 
I  beseech  you,  for  the  sake  of  that  God  that  doth 
command  you,  at  whose  bar  you  will  all  shortly  ap- 
pear, that  you  do  not  deny  me  this  reasonable  re- 


76 


A    CALL    TO 


quest.  For  the  sake  of  those  souls  that  must  turn 
or  die,  I  beseech  you  deny  me  not;  but  make  it 
your  business  to  understand  your  own  conditions, 
and  build  upon  sure  ground,  and  know  whether  you 
are  converted  or  not;  and  venture  not  your  souls 
on  negligent  security. 

But  perhaps  you  will  say,  e  What  if  we  should 
find  ourselves  yet  unconverted,  what  shall  we  do 
then? '  This  question  leads  me  to  my  second  Doc- 
trine; which  will  do  much  to  the  answering  of  it,  to 
which  I  now  proceed. 

Doctrine  2.  It  is  the  promise  of  God,  that  the 
wicked  shall  live,  if  they  will  but  turn,  unfeignedly 
and  thoroughly  turn. 

The  Lord  here  professeth  that  this  is  what  he 
takes  pleasure  in,  that  the  wicked  turn  and  live. 
Heaven  is  made  as  sure  to  the  converted,  as  hell  is 
to  the  unconverted.  Turn  and  live,  is  as  certain  a 
truth  as  Turn  or  die.  God  was  not  bound  to  provide 
us  a  Saviour,  nor  open  to  us  a  door  of  hope,  nor  call 
us  to  repent  and  turn,  when  once  we  had  cast  our- 
selves away  by  sin.  But  he  hath  freely  done  it  to 
magnify  his  mercy.  Sinners,  there  are  none  of  you 
shall  have  cause  to  go  home,  and  say  I  preach  des- 
peration to  you.  Do  we  use  to  shut  the  door  of 
mercy  against  you?  O  that  you  would  not  shut  it 
up  against  yourselves !  Do  we  use  to  tell  you  that 
God  will  have  no  mercy  on  you,  though  you  turn 
and  be  sanctified?  When  did  you  ever  hear  a 
preacher  say  such  a  word?  You  that  cavil  at  the 
preachers  of  the  gospel,  for  desiring  to  keep  you  out 
of  hell,  and  say,  that  they  preach  desperation;  tell 
me  if  you  can,  when  did  you  ever  hear  any  sober 
man  say,  that  there  is  no  hope  for  you,  though  you 
repent,  and  be  converted?  No,  it  is  the  direct  con- 
trary that  we  daily  proclaim  from  the  Lord;  and 
whoever  is  born  again,  and  by  faith  and  repentance 
dotli  become  a  new  creature,  shall  certainly  be  sav- 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  77 

ed;  and  so  far  are  we  from  persuading  you  to  despair 
of  this,  that  we  persuade  you  not  to  make  any  doubt 
of  it.  It  is  life,  not  death,  that  is  the  first  part  of 
our  message  to  you;  our  commission  is  to  offer  sal- 
vation, certain  salvation;  a  speedy,  glorious,  ever- 
lasting salvation,  to  every  one  of  you;  to  the  poorest 
beggar  as  well  as  the  greatest  lord ;  to  the  worst  of 
you,  even  to  drunkards,  swearers,  worldlings,  thieves, 
yea,  to  the  despisers,  and  reproachers  of  the  holy 
way  of  salvation.  We  are  commanded  by  the  Lord 
our  Master,  to  offer  you  a  pardon  for  all  that  is  past, 
if  you  will  but  now  at  last  return  and  live;  we  are 
commanded  to  beseech  and  entreat  you  to  accept 
the  offer,  and  return;  to  tell  you  what  preparation  is 
made  by  Christ;  what  mercy  stays  for  you;  what 
patience  waiteth  for  you;  what  thoughts  of  kindness 
God  hath  towards  you;  and  how  happy,  how  cer- 
tainly and  unspeakably  happy  you  may  be  if  you 
will.  We  have  indeed  also  a  message  of  wrath  and 
death,  yea,  of  a  twofold  wrath  and  death;  but  neither 
of  them  is  our  principal  message.  We  must  tell  you 
of  the  wrath  that  is  on  you  already,  and  the  death 
that  you  are  born  under,  for  the  breach  of  the  law 
of  works;  but  this  is  but  to  show  you  the  need  of 
mercy,  and  to  provoke  you  to  esteem  the  grace  of 
the  Redeemer.  And  we  tell  you  nothing  but  the 
truth,  which  you  must  know;  for  who  will  seek  for 
physic  that  knows  not  that  he  is  sick?  Our  telling 
you  of  your  misery,  is  not  that  which  makes  you 
miserable,  but  driveth  you  out  to  seek  for  mercy. 
It  is  you  that  have  brought  this  death  upon  your- 
selves. We  tell  you  also  of  another  death,  even 
remediless,  and  much  greater  torment,  that  will  fall 
on  those  that  will  not  be  converted.  But  as  this  is 
true,  and  must  be  told  you,  so  it  is  but  the  last 
and  saddest  part  of  our  message.  We  are  first  to 
offer  you  mercy,  if  you  will  turn;  and  it  is  only  those 
that  will  not  turn,  nor  hear  the  voice  of  mercy,  to 
whom  we  must  foretell  damnation.  Will  you  but 
cast  away  your  transgressions,  delay  no  longer,  but 


78  A    CALL    TO 

come  away  at  the  call  of  Christ,  and  be  converted, 
and  become  new  creatures,  and  we  have  not  a  word 
of  damning  wrath,  or  death  to  speak  against  you. 
1  do  here,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  of  Liie,  proclaim 
to  you  all  that  hear  me  this  day,  to  the  worst  of  you, 
to  the  greatest,  to  the  oldest  sinner,  that  you  may 
have  mercy  and  salvation,  if  you  will  but  turn. 
There  is  mercy  in  God,  there  is  sufficiency  in  the 
satisfaction  of  Christ,  the  promise  is  free,  and  full, 
and  universal;  you  may  have  life,  if  you  will  but 
turn.  But  then,  as  you  love  your  souls,  remember 
what  turning  it  is  that  the  Scripture  speaks  of.  It 
is  not  to  mend  the  old  house,  but  to  pull  down  all, 
and  build  anew  on  Christ,  the  Rock,  and  sure  foun- 
dation. It  is  not  to  mend  somewhat  in  a  carnal 
course  of  life,  but  to  mortify  the  flesh,  and  live  after 
the  Spirit.  It  is  not  to  serve  the  flesh  and  the  world, 
in  a  more  reformed  way,  without  any  scandalous 
disgraceful  sins,  and  with  a  certain  kind  of  religious- 
ness; but  it  is  to  change  your  master,  and  your 
works,  and  end ;  and  to  set  your  face  the.  contrary 
way,  and  do  all  for  the  life  that  you  never  saw,  and 
dedicate  yourselves,  and  all  you  have  to  God.  This 
is  the  change  that  must  be  made,  if  you  will  live. 

Yourselves  are  witnesses  now,  that  it  is  salvation, 
and  not  damnation,  that  is  the  great  doctrine  I  preach 
to  you,  and  the  first  part  of  my  message  to  you. 
Accept  of  this,  and  we  shall  go  no  further  with  you : 
for  we  would  not  so  much  as  affright,  or  trouble 
you  with  the  name  of  damnation,  without  necessity. 

But  if  you  will  not  be  saved,  there  is  no  remedy, 
but  damnation  must  take  place,  for  there  is  no  mid- 
dle place  between  the  two;  you  must  have  either  lile 
or  death. 

And  we  are  not  only  to  offer  you  life,  but  to  show 
you  the  grounds  on  which  we  do  it,  and  call  you  to 
believe  that  God  doth  mean,  indeed,  as  he  speaks; 
that  the  promise  is  true,  and  extendeth  conditionally 
to  you,  as  well  as  others;  and  that  heaven  is  no  fan- 
cy, but  a  true  felicity. 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  79 

If  you  ask,  Where  is  your  commission  for  this  of- 
fer? Among  a  hundred  texts  of  scripture,  I  will 
show  it  to  you  in  these  few : 

First,  You  see  it  here  in  my  text,  and  the  follow- 
ing verses,  and  in  the  18th  of  Ezekiel,  as  plain  as  can 
be  spoken;  and  in  2  Cor.  v.  17 — 21.  you  have  the 
very  sum  of  our  commission;  "If  any  man  be  in 
Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature:  old  things  are  passed 
away;  behold,  all  things  are  become  new.  And  all 
things  are  of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself 
by  Jesus  Christ,  and  hath  given  to  us  the  ministry  of 
reconciliation;  to  wit,  that  God  was  in  Christ  recon- 
ciling the  world  unto  himself,  not  imputing  their 
trespasses  to  them,  and  hath  committed  unto  us  the 
word  of  reconciliation.  Now  then  we  are  ambassa- 
dors for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by 
us:  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled 
unto  God.  For  he  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for 
us,  who  knew  no  sin;  that  we  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him."  So  Mark  xvi.  15, 
16.  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gos- 
pel to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth,  (that  is 
with  such  a  converting  faith  as  is  expressed)  and  is 
baptized,  shall  be  saved;  and  he  that  believeth  not, 
shall  be  damned."  And  Luke  xxiv.  46,  47.  "Thus 
it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead 
the  third  day:  and  that  repentance  (which  is  conver- 
sion) and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his 
name  among  all  nations."  And,  Acts,  v.  30,  31. 
"The  God  of  our  fathers  raised  up  Jesus,  whom  ye 
slew,  and  hanged  on  a  tree:  him  hath  God  exalted 
with  his  right  hand,  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to 
give  repentance  to  Israel,  and  forgiveness  of  sins." 
And  Acts  xiii.  3S,  39.  "  Be  it  known  unto  you,  there- 
fore, men  and  brethren,  that  through  this  man  is 
preached  unto  you  the  forgiveness  of  sins;  and  by 
him  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things,  from 
which  ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Mo- 
ses." And  lest  you  think  this  offer  is  restrained  to 
the  Jews,  see  Gal.  vi,  15.  "  For  in  Christ  Jesus,  nei- 


80  A    CALL    TO 

ther  circumcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircum- 
cision,  but  a  new  creature."  And  Luke  xiv.  17. 
"  Come,  for  all  things  are  now  ready." 

You  see  by  this  time  that  we  are  commanded  to 
offer  life  to  you  all,  and  to  tell  you  from  God,  That 
if  you  will  turn,  you  may  live. 

Here  you  may  safely  trust  your  souls;  for  the  love 
of  God  is  the  fountain  of  this  offer,  (John  iii.  16,)  and 
the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  hath  purchased  it;  the 
faithfulness  and  truth  of  God  is  engaged  to  make  the 
promise  good;  miracles  oft  sealed  the  truth  of  it; 
preachers  are  sent  through  the  world  to  proclaim  it; 
the  sacraments  are  instituted  and  used  for  the  solemn 
delivery  of  the  mercy  offered  to  them  that  will  ac- 
cept it;  and  the  Spirit  doth  open  the  heart  to  enter- 
tain it,  and  is  itself  the  earnest  of  the  full  possession. 
So  that  the  truth  of  it  is  past  controversy,  that  the 
worst  of  you  all,  and  every  one  of  you,  if  you  will 
but  be  converted,  may  be  saved. 

Indeed,  if  you  will  needs  believe  that  you  shall  be 
saved  without  conversion,  then  you  believe  a  false- 
hood; and  if  I  should  preach  that  to  you,  I  should 
preach  a  lie.  This  were  not  to  believe  God,  but  the 
devil  and  your  own  deceitful  hearts.  God  hath  his 
promise  of*  life,  and  the  devil  hath  his  promise  of  life. 
God's  promise  is,  Return  and  live.  The  devil's 
promise  is,  You  shall  live  whether  you  turn  or  not. 
The  words  of  God  are,  as  I  have  showed  you,  "  Ex- 
cept ye  be  converted  and  become  as  little  children, 
ye  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
Matt,  xviii.  8.  "Except  a  man  be  bom  again,  he 
cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  .John  iii. 
3,  5.  "Without  holiness  none  shall  see  God." 
Heb.  xii.  14.  The  devil's  word,  "  You  may  be  sa- 
ved without  being  born  again  and  converted;  you 
may  do  well  enough  without  being  holy,  God  doth 
but  frighten  you;  he  is  more  merciful  than  to  do  as 
he  saith,  he  will  be  better  to  you  than  his  word." 
And,  alas,  the  greatest  part  of  the  world  believe 
this  word  of  the  devil,  before  \hv  word  of  God;  just 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  81 

as  our  sin  and  misery  came  into  the  world.  God 
said  to  our  first  parents,  *  If  ye  eat  ye  shall  die;" 
and  the  devil  contradicted  him,  and  said,  "  Ye  shall 
not  die:"  and  the  woman  believed  the  devil  before 
God.  So  now  the  Lord  saith,  Turn  or  die:  and  the 
devil  saith,  You  shall  not  die,  if  you  do  but  cry  for 
God's  mercy  at  last,  and  give  over  the  acts  of  sin 
when  you  can  practise  it  no  longer.  And  this  is  the 
word  that  the  world  believes.  O  heinous  wicked- 
ness, to  believe  the  devil  before  God. 

And  yet  that  is  not  the  worst;  but  blasphemously 
they  call  this  a  believing  and  trusting  in  God,  when 
they  put  him  in  the  shape  of  Satan,  who  was  a  liar 
from  the  beginning;  and  when  they  believe  that  the 
word  of  God  is  a  lie,  they  call  this  a  trusting  God  and 
say  they  believe  in  him,  and  trust  in  him  for  salva- 
tion. Where  did  ever  God  say,  that  the  unregene- 
rate,  unconverted,  unsanctified,  shall  be  saved  ?  Show 
me  such  a  word  in  Scripture.  I  challenge  you  if  you 
can.  Why  this  is  the  devil's  word,  and  to  believe  it 
is  to  believe  the  devil,  and  the  sin  that  is  commonly 
called  presumption;  and  do  you  call  this  a  believing 
and  trusting  in  God?  There  is  enough  in  the  word 
of  God  to  comfort  and  strengthen  the  heart  of  the 
sanctified;  but  not  a  word  to  strengthen  the  hands  of 
wickedness,  nor  to  give  men  the  least  hope  of  being 
saved,  though  they  be  never  sanctified. 

But  if  you  will  turn,  and  come  into  the  way  of 
mercy,  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  ready  to  entertain 
you.  Then  trust  God  for  salvation,  boldly  and  con- 
fidently; for  he  is  engaged  by  his  word  to  save  you. 
He  will  be  a  father  to  none  but  his  children;  and  he 
will  save  none  but  those  that  forsake  the  world,  the 
devil,  and  the  flesh,  and  come  into  his  family  to  be 
members  of  his  Son,  and  have  communion  with  his 
saints.  But  if  they  will  not  come  in,  it  is  the  fault 
of  themselves:  his  doors  are  open;  he  keeps  none 
back;  he  never  sent  such  a  message  as  this  to  any 
of  you,  'It  is  now  too  late;  I  will  not  receive  thee, 
though  thou  be  converted.5    He  might  have  don<*  so 


82  A    CALL    TO 

and  done  you  no  wrong;  but  he  did  not;  lie  doth  not 
to  this  day.  He  is  still  ready  to  receive  you,  if  you 
were  but  ready  unfeigned ly,  and  with  all  your  hearts 
to  turn.  And  the  fulness  of  this  truth  will  yet  more 
appear  in  the  two  following  doctrines,  which  I  shall 
therefore  next  proceed  to,  before  I  make  any  further 
application  of  this. 

Doctrine  S.  God  taketh  pleasure  in  men's  con- 
version and  salvation,  but  not  in  their  death  or 
damnation.  He  had  rather  they  would  turn  and 
live,  than  go  on  and  die. 

I  shall  first  teach  you  how  to  understand  this, 
and  then  clear  up  the  truth  of  it  to  you. 

And  for  the  first  you  must  observe  these  following 
things:  1.  A  simple  willingness  or  complacency  is 
the  first  act  of  the  will  following  the  single  apprehen- 
sion of  the  understanding,  before  it  proceedeth  to 
compare  things  together;  but  the  choosing  act  of  the 
will  is  a  following  act,  and  supposeth  the  comparing 
practical  act  of  the  understanding;  and  these  two  acts 
may  often  be  carried  to  contrary  objects,  without 
any  fault  at  all  in  the  person. 

2.  An  unfeigned  willingness  may  have  divers  de- 
grees; some  things  I  am  so  far  willing  of  as  that  I 
will  do  all  that  lieth  in  my  power  to  accomplish  it, 
and  some  things  I  am  truly  willing  another  should 
do,  when  yet  I  will  not  do  all  that  I  am  ever  able  to 
procure  it,  having  many  reasons  to  dissuade  me 
therefrom,  though  yet  I  will  do  all  that  belongs  to 
me  to  do. 

3.  The  will  of  a  ruler,  as  such,  is  manifested  in 
making  and  executing  laws:  but  the  will  of  man  hi 
his  simple  natural  capacity,  or  as  absolute  lord  of  his 
own,  is  manifested  in  desiring  or  resolving  of  events. 

4.  A  ruler's  will,  as  lawgiver,  is  lirst  and  princi- 
pally that  his  laws  be  obeyed,  and  not  at  all  that  the 
penalty  be  executed  on  any,  but  only  on  supposition 
that  they  will  not  obey  his  laws;  but  a  ruler's  will, 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  85 

as  judge,  supposeth  the  law  already  either  kept  or 
broken,  and  therefore  he  resolveth  our  reward  or 
punishment  accordingly. 

Having  given  you  those  necessary  distinctions,  I 
shall  next  apply  them  to  the  case  in  hand,  in  these 
following  propositions: — 

1 .  It  is  in  the  glass  of  the  word  and  creatures,  that 
in  this  life  we  must  know  God;  and  so  according  to 
the  nature  of  man  we  ascribe  to  him  understanding 
and  will,  removing  all  the  imperfections  that  we  can, 
because  we  are  capable  of  no  higher  positive  concep- 
tions of  him. 

2.  And  on  the  same  grounds  we  do,  with  the 
scripture,  distinguish  between  the  acts  of  God's  will, 
as  diversified  from  the  respects  or  the  objects,  though 
as  to  God's  essence  they  are  all  one. 

3.  And  the  bolder,  because  that  when  we  speak 
of  Christ,  we  have  the  more  ground  for  it  from  his 
human  nature. 

4.  And  thus  we  say,  that  the  simple  complacency, 
will,  or  love  of  God,  is  to  all  that  is  naturally  or 
morally  good,  according  to  the  nature  and  degree  of 
its  goodness,  and  so  he  hath  pleasure  in  the  conver- 
sion and  salvation  of  all,  which  yet  will  never  come 
to  pass. 

5.  And  God,  as  Ruler  and  Lawgiver  of  the 
world,  had  so  far  a  practical  will  for  their  salvation, 
as  to  make  them  a  free  deed  of  gift  of  Christ  and  life, 
and  an  act  of  oblivion  for  all  their  sins,  so  be  if  they 
will  not  unthankfully  reject  it,  and  to  command  his 
messengers  to  offer  this  gift  to  all  the  world,  and  per- 
suade them  to  accept  it.  And  so  he  doth  all  that, 
as  Lawgiver  or  Promiser,  belongs  to  him  to  do  for 
their  salvation. 

6.  But  yet  he  resolveth,  as  Lawgiver,  that  they 
that  will  not  turn  shall  die;  and  as  Judge,  when  their 
day  of  grace  is  past  he  will  execute  that  decree. 

7.  So  that  he  thus  unfeignedly  willeth  the  conver- 
sion of  those  that  never  will  be  converted,  but  not 
as  absolute  Lord  with  the  fullest  efficacious  resolu- 


84  A   CALL    TO 

tion,  nor  as  a  thing  which  he  resolveth  shall  un- 
doubtedly come  to  pass,  or  would  engage  all  his  pow- 
er to  accomplish.  It  is  in  the  power  of  a  prince  to 
set  a  guard  upon  a  murderer,  to  see  that  he  shall  not 
murder,  and  be  hanged;  but  if,  upon  good  reason, 
he  forbear  this,  and  do  but  send  to  his  subjects  to 
warn  and  entreat  them  not  to  be  murderers,  I  hope 
he  may  well  say  that  he  would  not  have  them  mur- 
der and  be  hanged;  he  takes  no  pleasure  in  it,  but 
rather  that  they  forbear  and  live,  and  if  he  do  more 
for  some  upon  some  special  reason,  he  is  not  bound 
to  do  so  by  all.  The  king  may  well  say  to  all  mur- 
derers and  felons  in  the  land,  c  I  have  no  pleasure  in 
your  death,  but  rather  that  you  would  obey  my 
laws  and  live;  but  if  you  will  not,  I  am  resolved,  for 
all  this,  that  you  shall  die.'  The  judge  may  truly 
say  to  a  thief,  or  the  murderer,  ( Alas,  I  have  no  de- 
light in  thy  death;  I  had  rather  thou  hadst  kept  the 
law  and  saved  thy  life;  but  seeing  thou  hast  not,  I 
must  condemn  thee,  or  else  I  should  be  unjust.'  So, 
though  God  have  no  pleasure  in  your  damnation, 
and  therefore  calls  upon  you  to  return  and  live,  yet 
he  hath  pleasure  in  the  demonstration  of  his  own 
justice,  and  the  executing  his  laws,  and  therefore  he 
is,  for  all  this,  fully  resolved,  that  if  you  will  not  be 
converted,  you  shall  be  condemned.  If  God  was  so 
much  against  the  death  of  the  wicked,  as  that  he 
were  resolved  to  do  all  that  he  can  to  hinder  it,  then 
no  man  shall  be  condemned;  whereas  Christ  telleth 
you,  that  few  will  be  saved.  But  so  far  God  is 
against  your  damnation,  as  that  he  will  teach  you, 
and  warn  you,  and  set  before  you  life  and  death, 
and  offer  you  your  choice,  and  command  his  minis- 
ters to  entreat  you  not  to  destroy  yourselves,  bu. 
accept  his  mercy,  and  so  to  leave  you  without  excuse. 
But  if  this  will  not  do,  and  if  still  you  be  unconvert- 
ed, he  professeth  to  you,  he  is  resolved  on  your  dam- 
nation, and  hath  commanded  us  to  say  to  you  in  his 
name,  verse  8,  "  O  wicked  man  thou  shalt  surely 
die!"     And  Christ  hath  little  less  than  sworn  it, 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  85 

over  and  over,  with  a  "verily,  verily,  except  ye  be 
converted,  and  born  again,  ye  cannot  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.5'  Matt,  xviii.  8.  John  iii.  3. 
Mark  that  he  saith  "  you  cannot. "  It  is  in  vain  to 
hope  for  it,  and  in  vain  to  dream  that  God  is  willing 
for  it;  for  it  is  a  thing  that  cannot  be. 

In  a  word,  you  see  then  the  meaning  of  the  text, 
that  God,  the  great  Lawgiver  of  the  world,  doth 
take  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked,  but 
rather  that  they  turn  and  live;  though  yet  he  be  re- 
solved that  none  shall  live  but  those  that  turn;  and 
as  a  Judge  even  delighteth  in  justice,  and  manifesting 
his  hatred  of  sin,  though  not  in  their  misery,  which 
they  have  brought  upon  themselves,  in  itself  consid- 
ered. 

And  for  the  proofs  of  the  point,  I  shall  be  very 
brief  in  them,  because  I  suppose  you  easily  believe 
it  already. 

1.  The  very  gracious  nature  of  God  proclaimed: 
"  And  the  Lord  passed  by  before  him,  and  proclaim- 
ed, The  Lord,  The  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gra- 
cious, long-sufiering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and 
truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniqui- 
ty, and  transgression,  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no 
means  clear  the  guilty; "  (Exod.  xxiv.  6.  and  xxvi. 
6.)  and  frequently  elsewhere,  may  assure  you  of  this, 
That  he  hath  no  pleasure  in  your  death. 

2.  If  God  had  more  pleasure  in  thy  death,  than  in 
thy  conversion  and  life,  he  would  not  have  so  fre- 
quently commanded  thee  in  his  word,  to  turn;  he 
would  not  have  made  thee  such  promises  of  life,  if 
thou  wilt  but  turn;  he  would  not  have  persuaded 
thee  to  it  by  so  many  reasons.  The  tenor  of  his 
gospel  proveth  the  point. 

3.  And  his  commission  that  he  hath  given  to  the 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  doth  fully  prove  it.  If  God 
had  taken  more  pleasure  in  thy  damnation,  than  in 
thy  conversion  and  salvation,  he  would  never  have 
charged  us  to  offer  you  mercy,  and  to  teach  you  the 
way  of  life,  both  publicly  and  privately:  and  to  en- 


86  A    CALL    TO 

treat  and  beseech  you  to  turn  and  live;  to  acquaint 
yon  with  your  sins,  and  foretell  you  of  your  danger; 
and  to  do  all  that  possibly  we  can  for  your  conver- 
sion, and  to  continue  patiently  so  doing,  though  you 
should  hate  or  abuse  us  for  our  pains.  Would  God 
have  done  this,  and  appointed  his  ordinances  for 
your  good,  if  he  had  taken  pleasure  in  your  death? 
4.  It  is  proved  also  by  the  course  of  his  provi- 
dence. If  God  had  rather  you  were  damned  than 
converted  and  saved,  he  would  not  second  his  word 
with  his  works,  and  entice  you  by  his  daily  kindness 
to  himself,  and  give  you  all  the  mercies  of  this  life, 
which  are  his  means  "  to  lead  you  to  repentance," 
(Rom.  ii.  4.)  and.  bring  you  so  often  under  his  rod 
to  lead  you  to  your  senses;  he  would  not  set  so  many 
examples  before  your  eyes,  no,  nor  wait  on  you  so 
patiently  as  he  does  from  day  to  day,  and  year  to 
year.  These  are  not  signs  of  one  that  taketh  pleas- 
ure in  your  death.  If  this  had  been  his  delight,  how 
easily  could  he  have  had  thee  long  ago  in  hell  ?  How 
oft,  before  this,  could  he  have  catched  thee  away  in 
the  midst  of  thy  sins  with  a  curse,  or  oath,  or  lie  in 
thy  mouth,  in  thy  ignorance,  and  pride,  and  sensu- 
ality ?  When  thou  wert  last  in  thy  drunkenness,  or 
last  deriding  the  ways  of  God,  how  easily  could  he 
have  stopped  thybieath,  and  tamed  thee  with  plagues, 
and  made  thee  sober  in  another  world !  Alas !  how 
small  a  matter  is  it  for  the  Almighty  to  rule  the 
tongue  of  the  profanest  railer,  and  tie  the  hands  of 
the  most  malicious  persecutor,  or  calm  the  fury  of 
the  bitterest  of  his  enemies,  and  make  them  know 
that  they  are  but  worms?  W  he  should  but  frown 
upon  thee  thou  wouldst  drop  into  thy  grave.  K  he 
gave  commission  to  one  of  his  angels  to  go  and  de- 
stroy ten  thousand  sinners,  how  quickly  would  it  be 
done!  how  easily  can  he  lay  thee  upon  the  bed  of 
languishing,  and  make  thee  lie  roaring  there  in  pain, 
and  make  thee  eat  the  wdtds  of  reproach  which  thou 
hast  spoken  against  his  servants,  his  word,  his  wor- 
ship, and  his  holy  ways,  and  make  thee  send  to  beg 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  87 

their  prayers  whom  thou  didst  despise  in  thy  pre- 
sumption? How  easily  can  he  lay  that  flesh  under 
pains,  and  groans,  and  make  it  too  weak  to  hold  thy 
soul,  and  make  it  more  loathsome  than  the  dung  of 
the  earth?  That  flesh  which  now  must  have  what 
» it  loves,  and  must  not  be  displeased,  though  God  be 
displeased,  and  must  be  humoured  in  meat,  and 
drink,  and  clothes,  whatever  God  say  to  the  contra- 
ry, how  quickly  would  the  frowns  of  God  consume 
it?  When  thou  wast  passionately  defending  thy 
sin,  and  quarrelling  with  them  that  would  have 
drawn  thee  from  it,  and  showing  thy  splSen  against 
the  reprover,  and  pleading  for  the  works  of  darkness; 
how  easily  could  God  have  snatched  thee  away  in  a 
moment,  and  set  thee  before  his  dreadful  Majesty, 
where  thou  shouldst  see  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand  glorious  angels  waiting  on  his  throne,  and 
have  called  thee  there  to  plead  thy  cause,  and  asked 
thee  c  What  hast  thou  now  to  say  against  thy  Crea- 
tor, his  truth,  his  servants,  or  his  holy  ways  ?  Now 
plead  thy  cause,  and  make  the  best  of  it  thou  canst. 
Now  what  canst  thou  say  in  excuse  of  thy  sins? 
Now  give  account  of  thy  worldliness  and  fleshly  life, 
of  thy  time,  of  all  the  mercies  thou  hast  had.5  O 
how  thy  stubborn  heart  would  have  melted,  and  thy 
proud  looks  be  taken  down,  and  thy  countenance  be 
appalled,  and  thy  stout  words  turned  into  speechless 
silence,  or  dreadful  cries,  if  God  had  but  set  thee 
thus  at  his  bar,  and  pleaded  his  own  cause  with  thee, 
which  thou  hast  here  so  maliciously  pleaded  against ! 
How  easily  can  he  at  any  time  say  to  thy  guilty 
soul,  Come  away,  and  live  in  that  flesh  no  more  till 
t^e  resurrection,  and  it  cannot  resist !  A  word  of 
his  mouth  would  take  off  the  poise  of  thy  present 
lite,  and  then  all  thy  parts  and  powers  would  stand 
still;  and  if  he  say  unto  thee,  Live  no  longer,  or,  live 
in  hell,  thou  couldst  not  disobey. 

But  God  hath  yet  done  none  of  this,  but  hath  pa- 
tiently forborn  thee,  and  mercifully  upheld  thee,  and 
given  thee  that  breath,   which  thou  didst  breathe 


88  A   CALL    TO 

out  against  him,  and  given  those  mercies  which  thou 
didst  sacrifice  to  thy  flesh,  and  afforded  thee  that 
provision  which  thou  spentest  to  satisfy  thy  greedy 
throat:  he  gave  thee  every  minute  of  that  time 
which  thou  didst  waste  in  idleness,  or  drunkenness, 
or  worldliness;  and  doth  not  all  his  patience  and  mer- 
cy show  that  he  desired  not  thy  damnation?  Can 
the  candle  burn  without  the  oil?  Can  your  houses 
stand  without  the  earth  to  bear  them  ?  No  more 
can  you  live  an  hour  without  the  support  of  God. 
And  why  did  he  so  long  support  thy  life,  but  to 
see  when  thou  wouldst  bethink  thee  of  the  folly  of 
thy  ways,  and  return  and  live?  Will  any  man  pur- 
posely put  arms  into  his  enemy's  hands  to  resist  him, 
or  hold  a  candle  to  a  murderer  that  is  killing  his  chil- 
dren, or  to  an  idle  servant  that  plays  or  sleeps  the 
while?  Surely  it  is  to  see  whether  thou  wilt  at  last 
return  and  live,  that  God  hath  so  long  waited  on 
thee. 

5.  It  is  further  proved  by  the  sufferings  of  his  Son, 
that  God  taketh  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the 
wicked.  Would  he  have  ransomed  them  from  death 
at  so  dear  a  rate?  Would  he  have  astonished  angels 
and  men  by  his  condescension?  Would  God  have 
dwelt  in  flesh,  and  have  come  in  the  form  of  a  servant, 
and  have  assumed  humanity  into  one  person  with  the 
Godhead;  and  would  Christ  have  lived  a  life  of  suf- 
fering, and  died  a  cursed  death  for  sinners,  if  he  had 
rather  taken  pleasure  in  their  death?  Suppose  you 
saw  him  but  so  busy  in  preaching  and  healing  of 
them,  as  you  find  him  in  Mark  iii.  21.  or  so  long  in 
fasting,  as  in  Matt.  iv.  or  all  night  in  prayer,  as  in 
Luke  vi.  12.  or  praying  with  the  drops  of  blood 
trickling  from  him  instead  of  sweat,  as  Luke  m 
44.  or  suffering  a  cursed  death  upon  the  cross,  and 
pouring  out  his  soul  as  a  sacrifice  lor  our  sins. 
Would  you  have  thought  these  the  signs  of  one  that 
delighted  in  the  death  of  the  wicked? 

And  think  not  to  extenuate  it  by  saying,  that  it 
was  only  for  his  elect:  for  it  was  thy  sin,  and  the 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  89 

sin  of  all  the  world,  that  lay  upon  our  Redeemer; 
and  his  sacrifice  and  satisfaction  is  sufficient  for  all, 
and  the  fruits  of  it  are  offered  to  one  as  well  as 
another.  But  it  is  true,  that  it  was  never  the  intent 
of  his  mind  to  pardon  and  save  any  that  would  not, 
by  faith  and  repentance,  be  converted.  If  you  had 
seen  and  heard  him  weeping  and  bemoaning  the 
state  of  disobedience  in  impenitent  people: — Luke 
xix.  41,  42.  "  And  when  he  was  come  near,  he  be- 
held the  city,  and  wept  over  it,  saying,  if  thou  hadsit 
known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the 
things  which  belong  unto  thy  peace !  but  now  they 
are  hid  from  thine  eyes.  "  Or  complaining  of  their 
stubbornness,  as  Matt,  xxiii.  37.  "  O  Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her 
chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not ! "  Or 
if  you  had  seen  and  heard  him  on  the  cross,  praying 
for  his  persecutors — Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do — would  you  have  suspected 
that  he  had  delighted  in  the  death  of  the  wicked, 
even  of  those  that  perish  by  their  wilful  unbelief? 
When  God  hath  so  loved,  (not  only  loved,  but  so 
loved,)  as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  who- 
soever beiieveth  in  him  (by  an  effectual  faith)  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life,  I  think  he  hath 
hereby  proved,  against  the  malice  of  men  and  devils, 
that  he  takes  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked, 
but  had  rather  that  they  wTould  "  turn  and  live." 

6.  Lastly,  If  all  this  will  not  yet  satisfy  you,  take 
his  own  word,  that  knoweth  best  his  own  mind,  or  at 
least  believe  his  oath:  but  this  leads  me  to  the  fourth 
doctrine. 

Doctrine  4.  The  Lord  hath  confirmed  to  us  by 
his  oath,  that  he  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of 
the  wicked,  but  rather  that  he  turn  and  live;  that 
he  may  leave  man  no  pretence  to  question  the 
truth  of  it. 


90  A   CALL    TO 

H  you  dare  question  his  word,  I  hope  you  dare 
not  question  his  oath.  As  Christ  hath  solemnly 
protested  that  the  unregenerate  and  unconverted 
cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  (Matt, 
xviii.  3.  John  iii.  3;)  so  God  hath  sworn  that  his 
pleasure  is  not  in  their  death,  but  in  their  conversion 
and  life.  And  as  the  Apostle  saith,  (Heb.  iv.  1 3—18,) 
Because  he  can  swear  by  no  greater,  he  swear  by 
himself.  ( For  men  verily  swear  by  the  greater :  and 
an  oath  for  confirmation  is  to  them  an  end  of  strife. 
Wherein  God,  willing  more  abundantly  to  show  unto 
the  heirs  of  promise  the  immutability  of  his  counsel, 
confirmed  it  by  an  oath;  that  by  two  immutable 
things  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  God  to  lie,  we 
might  have  strong  consolation,  who  have  fled  for 
refuge  to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  set  before  us :  which 
hope  we  have-  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul  both  sure  and 
steadfast.'  If  there  be  any  man  that  cannot  recon- 
cile this  truth  with  the  doctrine  of  predestination, 
or  the  actual  damnation  of  the  wicked,  that  is  his 
own  ignorance;  he  hath  no  pretence  left  to  question 
or  deny  therefore  the  truth  of  the  point  in  hand ;  for 
this  is  confirmed  by  the  oath  of  God,  and  therefore 
must  not  be  distorted,  to  reduce  it  to  other  points : 
but  doubtful  points  must  rather  be  reduced  to  it, 
and  certain  truths  must  be  believed  to  agree  with  it, 
though  our  shallow  minds  hardly  discern  the  agree- 
ment. 

Use. — I  do  now  entreat  thee,  if  thou  be  an  uncon- 
verted sinner  that  hearest  these  words,  that  thou 
wouldst  po?jder  a  little  upon  the  forementioned  doc- 
trines, and  bethink  thyself  awhile,  who  it  is  that 
takes  pleas h re  in  thy  sin  and  damnation.  Certainly, 
it  is  not  God:  he  hath  sworn  for  his  part  that  he 
takes  no  pleasure  in  it.  And  I  know  it  is  not  the 
pleasing  of  him  that  you  intend.  You  dare  not  say 
that  you  drink,  and  swear,  and  neglect  holy  duties, 
and  quench  the  motions  of  the  Spirit  to  please  God. 
That  were  as  if  you  should  reproach  the  prince,  and 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  91 

break  his  laws,  and  seek  his  death,  and  say,  you  did 
all  this  to  please  him. 

Who  is  it  then  that  takes  pleasure  in  your  sin  and 
death?  Not  any  that  bear  the  image  of  God,  for 
they  must  be  like  minded  to  him.  God  knows,  it  is 
small  pleasure  to  your  faithful  teachers  to  see  you 
serve  your  deadly  enemy,  and  madly  venture  your 
eternal  state,  and  wilfully  run  into  the  flames  of  hell. 
It  is  small  pleasure  to  them  to  see  upon  your  souls  (in 
the  sad  effects)  such  biindness,  and  hard-heartedness, 
and  carelessness,  and  presumption;  such  wilfulness 
in  evil,  and  such  unteachableness  and  stiffness  against 
the  ways  of  life  and  peace;  they  know  these  are 
marks  of  death,  and  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and  they 
know,  from  the  word  of  God,  what  is  like  to  be  the 
end  of  them,  and  therefore  it  is  no  more  pleasure  to 
them,  than  to  a  tender  physician  to  see  the  plague- 
marks  broke  out  upon  his  patient.  Alas,  to  foresee 
your  everlasting  torments,  and  know  not  how  to 
prevent  them !  To  see  how  near  you  are  to  hell, 
and  we  cannot  make  you  believe  it  and  consider  it. 
To  see  how  easily,  how  certainly  you  might  escape, 
if  we  knew  but  how  to  make  you  willing.  How  fair 
you  are  for  everlasting  salvation,  if  you  would  turn 
and  do  your  best,  and  make  it  the  care  and  business 
of  your  lives!  but  you  will  not  do  it;  if  our  lives  lay 
on  it,  we  cannot  persuade  you  to  it.  We  study  day 
and  night  what  to  say  to  you,  that  may  convince  and 
persuade  you,  and  yet  it  is  undone:  we  lay  before 
you  the  word  of  God,  and  show  you  the  very  chap- 
ter and  verse  where  it  is  written,  that  you  cannot  be 
saved  except  you  be  converted;  and  yet  we  leave  the 
most  of  you  as  we  find  you.  We  hope  you  will  be- 
lieve the  word  of  God,  though  you  believe  not  us, 
and  regard  it  when  we  show  you  the  plain  scripture 
for  it;  but  we  hope  in  vain,  and  labour  in  vain  as  to 
any  saving  change  upon  your  hearts !  And  do  you 
think  that  this  is  a  pleasant  thing  to  us  ?  Many  a 
time,  in  secret  prayer,  we  are  fain  to  complain  to  God 
with  sad  hearts,     ( Alas,  Lord,  we  have  spoken  to 


92  A   CALL   TO 

them  in  thy  name,  but  they  little  regard  us;  we  have 
told  them  what  thou  bidst  us  tell  them  concerning 
the  danger  of  an  unconverted  state,  but  they  do  not 
believe  us :  we  have  told  them  that  thou  hast  pro- 
tested that  there  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked. '  Isa. 
xlviii.  2,  and  lvii.  21.  c  But  the  worst  of  them  all  will 
scarcely  believe  that  they  are  wicked;  we  have 
showed  them  thy  word,  where  thou  hast  said,  that 
if  they  live  after  the  flesh  they  shall  die.'  Rom.  viii. 
13.  'But  they  say,  they  will  believe  in  thee,  when 
they  will  not  believe  thee,  and  that  they  will  trust  in 
thee,  when  they  give  no  credit  to  thy  word;  and 
when  they  hope  that  the  threatenings  of  thy  word 
are  false,  they  will  yet  call  this  a  hoping  in  God;  and 
though  we  show  them  where  thou  hast  said,  that 
when  a  wicked  man  dieth,  all  his  hopes  perish,  yet 
cannot  we  persuade  them  from  their  deceitful  hopes.5 
Prov.  xi.  7.  f  We  tell  them  what  a  base,  unprofita- 
ble thing  sin  is;  but  they  love  it,  and  therefore  will 
not  leave  it.  We  tell  them  how  dear  they  buy  this 
pleasure,  and  what  they  must  pay  for  it  in  everlast- 
ing torment;  and  they  bless  themselves,  and  will  not 
believe  it,  but  will  do  as  the  most  do;  and  because 
God  is  merciful,  they  will  not  believe  him,  but  will 
venture  their  souls,  come  on  it  what  will.  We  tell 
them  how  ready  the  Lord  is  to  receive  them,  and 
this  doth  but  make  them  delay  their  repentance  and 
be  bolder  in  their  sin.  Some  of  them  say  they  pur- 
pose to  repent,  but  they  are  still  the  same;  and  some 
say  they  do  repent  already,  while  yet  they  are  not 
converted  from  their  sins.  We  exhort  them,  we 
entreat  them,  we  offer  them  our  help,  but  we  cannot 
prevail  with  them;  but  they  that  were  drunkards, 
are  drunkards  still;  and  they  that  were  voluptuous 
flesh-pleasing  wretches,  are  such  still;  and  they  that 
were  worldlings,  are  worldlings  still;  and  they  that 
were  ignorant,  and  proud,  and  self-conceited,  are  so 
still.  Few  of  them  will  see  and  confess  their  sin, 
and  fewer  will  forsake  it,  but  comfort  themselves 
thaf.  ail  men  are  sinners,  as  if  there  were  no  differ- 


^v 


of  THK 


THE   UNCONVER! 


ence  between  a  converted  sinner  and  an  unconverted. 
Some  of  them  will  not  come  near  us,  When  we  are 
willing  to  instruct  them,  but  think  they  know  enough 
already,  and  need  not  our  instruction;  and  some  of 
them  will  give  us  the  hearing,  and  do  what  they  list; 
and  most  of  them  are  like  dead  men  that  cannot 
feel;  so  that  when  we  tell  them  of  the  matters  of 
everlasting  consequence,  we  cannot  get  a  word  of  it 
to  their  hearts.  If  we  do  not  obey  them,  and  hu- 
mour them  in  baptizing  the  children  of  the  most  ob- 
stinately wicked,  and  giving  them  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  doing  all  that  they  would  have  us,  though  never 
so  much  against  the  word  of  God,  they  will  hate  us, 
and  rail  at  us;  but  if  we  beseech  them  to  confess, 
and  forsake  their  sins,  and  save  their  souls,  they  will 
not  do  it.  We  tell  them,  if  they  will  but  turn,  we 
will  deny  them  none  of  the  ordinances  of  God,  neith- 
er baptism  to  their  children,  nor  the  Lord's  Supper 
to  themselves,  but  they  will  not  hear  us;  they  would 
have  us  disobey  God  and  damn  our  own  souls,  to 
please  them;  and  yet  they  will  not  turn  and  save 
their  own  souls  to  please  God.  They  are  wiser  in 
their  own  eyes  than  all  their  teachers;  they  rage  and 
are  confident  in  their  own  way,  and  if  we  were  never 
so  fain,  we  cannot  change  them.  Lord,  this  is  the 
case  of  our  miserable  neighbours,  and  we  cannot  help 
it;  we  see  them  ready  to  drop  into  hell,  and  we  can- 
not help  it;  we  know  if  they  would  unfeignedly  turn, 
they  might  be  saved,  but  we  cannot  persuade  them; 
if  we  would  beg  it  of  them  on  our  knees,  we  cannot 
persuade  them  to  it;  if  we  would  beg  it  of  them  with 
tears,  we  cannot  persuade  them;  and  what  more  can 
we  do  ? 

These  are  the  secret  complaints  and  moans  that 
many  a  poor  minister  is  fain  to  make.  And  do  you 
think  that  he  hath  any  pleasure  in  this  ?  Is  it  a  plea- 
sure to  him  to  see  you  go  on  in  sin,  and  cannot  stop 
you?  to  see  you  so  miserable,  and  cannot  so  much 
as  make  you  sensible  of  it?  to  see  you  merry,  when 
you  are  not  sure  to  be  an  hour  out  of  hell?  to  think 


94 

what  you  must  for  ever  suffer,  because  you  will  not 
turn  ?  and  to  think  what  an  everlasting  life  of  glory 
you  wilfully  despise  and  cast  away?  What  sadder 
thing  can  you  bring  to  their  hearts,  and  how  can  you 
devise  to  grieve  them  more? 

Who  is  it  then  that  you  please  by  your  sin  and 
death?  It  is  none  of  your  understanding  godly 
friends.  Alas,  it  is  the  grief  of  their  souls  to  see 
your  misery,  and  they  lament  you  many  a  time  when 
you  give  them  little  thanks  for  it,  and  when  you 
have  not  hearts  to  lament  yourselves. 

Who  is  it  then  that  takes  pleasure  in  your  sin  ?  It 
is  none  but  three  great  enemies  of  God,  whom  you 
renounced  in  your  baptism,  and  now  are  turned 
falsely  to  serve. 

1.  The  devil  indeed  takes  pleasure  in  your  sin  and 
death:  for  this  is  the  very  end  of  all  his  temptations; 
f ?r  this  he  watches  night  and  day;  you  cannot  devise 
to  please  him  better  than  to  go  on  in  sin.  How  glad 
is  he  when  he  sees  thee  going  into  the  alehouse,  or 
other  sin,  and  when  he  heareth  thee  curse,  or  swear, 
or  rail  J  How  glad  is  he  when  he  heareth  thee  re- 
vile the  minister  that  would  draw  thee  from  thy  sin, 
and  help  to  save  thee?     These  are  his  delight. 

2.  The  wicked  are  also  delighted  in  it;  for  it  is 
agreeable  to  their  nature. 

3.  But  I  know,  for  all  this,  that  it  is  not  the  pleas- 
ing of  the  devil,  that  you  intend,  even  when  you 
please  him;  but  it  is  your  own  flesh,  the  greatest  and 
most  dangerous  enemy,  that  you  intend  to  please. 
It  is  the  flesh  that  would  be  pampered,  that  would 
be  pleased  in  meat,  and  drink,  and  clothing;  that 
would  be  pleased  in  your  company,  and  pleased  in 
applause  and  credit  with  the  world,  and  pleased  in 
sports,  and  lusts,  and  idleness;  this  is  the  gulf  that 
devoureth  all.  This  is  the  very  god  that  you  serve, 
for  the  scripture  saith  of  such,  that  their  bellies  are 
their  gods.  Phil.  iii.  19.  But  I  beseech  you  stay 
a  little  and  consider  the  business. 

1.  Question.    Should  your  flesh  be  pleased  before 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  95 

your  Maker?  Will  you  displease  the  Lord,  and  dis- 
please your  teacher,  and  your  godly  friends,  and  all  to 
please  your  brutish  appetites,  or  sensual  desires? 
Is  not  God  worthy  to  be  the  ruler  of  your  flesh?  If 
he  shall  not  rule  it,  he  will  not  save  it;  you  cannot 
in  reason  expect  that  he  should. 

2.  Question.  Your  flesh  is  pleased  with  your  sin; 
but  is  your  conscience  pleased  ?  Doth  not  it  grudge 
within  you,  and  tell  you  sometimes  that  all  is  not 
well,  and  that  your  case  is  not  so  safe  as  you  make  it 
to  be;  and  should  not  your  souls  and  consciences  be 
pleased  before  your  corruptible  flesh? 

3.  Question.  But  is  not  your  flesh  preparing  for 
its  own  displeasure  also?  It  loves  the  bait,  but  doth 
it  love  the  hook ?  It  loves  the  strong  drink  and  sweet 
morsels;  it  loves  its  ease,  and  sports  and  merriment: 
it  loves  to  be  rich,  and  well  spoken  of  by  men,  and 
to  be  somebody  in  the  world;  but  doth  it  love  the 
curse  of  God?  Doth  it  love  to  stand  trembling  be- 
fore his  bar,  and  to  be  judged  to  everlasting  fire? 
Doth  it  love  to  be  tormented  with  the  devils  for 
ever?  Take  all  together;  for  there  is  no  separating 
sin,  and  hell,  but  only  by  faith  and  true  conversion; 
if  you  will  keep  one,  you  must  have  the  other.  If 
death  and  hell  be  pleasant  to  thee,  no  wonder  then 
if  you  go  on  in  sin:  but  if  they  be  not  (as  I  am  sure 
they  are  not),  then  what  if  sin  were  never  so  pleas- 
ant, is  it  worth  the  loss  of  life  eternal?  Is  a  little 
drink,  or  meat,  or  ease;  is  the  good  word  of  sinners, 
is  the  riches  of  this  world  to  be  valued  above  the  joys 
of  heaven?  Or  are  they  worth  the  sufferings  of 
eternal  fire?  Sirs,  these  questions  should  be  consid- 
ered before  you  go  any  further,  by  every  man  that 
hath  reason  to  consider,  and  that  believes  he  hath  a 
soul  to  save  or  lose. 

Well,  the  Lord  here  sweareth  that  he  hath  no 
pleasure  in  your  death,  but  rather  that  you  would 
turn  and  live;  if  yet  you  will  go  on  and  die  rather 
than  turn,  remember  it  was  not  to  please  God  that 
you  did  it:  it  was  to  please  the  world,  and  to  please 


96  A    CALL   TO 

yourselves.  And  if  men  will  damn  themselves  to 
please  themselves,  and  run  into  endless  torments  for 
delight,  and  have  not  the  wit,  the  hearts,  the  grace,  to 
.learken  to  God  or  man  that  would  reclaim  them, 
what  remedy  but  they  must  take  what  they  get  by 
it,  and  repent  it  in  another  manner,  when  it  is  too 
late?  Before  I  proceed  any  further  in  the  applica- 
tion, I  shall  come  to  the  next  doctrine,  which  gives 
me  a  fuller  ground  for  it. 

Doctrine  5.  So  earnest  is  God  for  the  conversion 
of  sinners,  that  he  doubleth  his  commands  and 
exhortations,  with  vehemency — Turn  ye,  turn 
ye,  why  will  you  die? 

This  doctrine  is  the  application  of  the  former,  as 
by  a  use  of  exhortation,  and  accordingly  I  shall  han- 
dle it.  Is  there  ever  an  unconverted  sinner  that 
heareth  these  vehement  words  of  God?  Is  there 
ever  a  man  or  woman  in  this  assembly  that  is  yet 
a  stranger  to  the  renewing  sanctifying  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost?  It  is  a  happy  assembly,  if  it  be  not  so 
with  the  most.  Hearken  then  to  the  voice  of  your 
Maker,  and  turn  to  him  by  Christ  without  delay. 
Would  you  know  the  will  of  God?  Why  this  is  his 
will,  that  you  presently  turn.  Shall  the  living  God 
send  so  earnest  a  message  to  his  creatures,  and 
should  they  not  obey?  2.  Hearken  then,  all  you 
that  live  alter  the  flesh:  the  Lord  that  gave  thee  thy 
breath  and  being,  hath  sent  a  message  to  thee  from 
heaven;  and  this  is  his  message,  Turn  ye,  turn  ye, 
why  will  ye  die? — He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him 
hear.  Shall  the  voice  of  the  eternal  Majesty  be  neg- 
lected? If  he  do  but  terribly  thunder,  thou  art 
afraid.  O  but  this  voice  doth  more  nearly  concern 
thee.  If  he  did  but  tell  thee  thou  shalt  die  to-mor- 
row, thou  wouldst  not  make  light  of  it.  O  but  this 
word  concerneth  thy  life  or  death  everlasting.  It  is 
both  a  command  and  an  exhortation.  As  if  he  hud 
said  to  thee,  "  I  charge  thee  upon  the  allegiance  that 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  97 

thou  owest  to  me  thy  Creator  and  Redeemer,  that 
thou  renounce  the  flesh,  the  world,  and  the  devil, 
and  turn  to  me  that  thou  mayst  live.  I  condescend 
to  entreat  thee,  as  thou  either  lovest  or  fearest  him 
that  made  thee;  as  thou  lovest  thine  own  life,  even 
thine  everlasting  life,  turn  and  live:  as  ever  thou 
wouldst  escape  eternal  misery,  turn,  turn,  for  why 
wilt  thou  die  ? "  And  is  there  a  heart  in  man,  in  a 
reasonable  creature,  that  can  once  refuse  such  a 
message,  such  a  command,  such  an  exhortation  as 
this  ?     O  what  a  thing,  then,  is  the  heart  of  man ! 

Hearken,  then,  all  that  love  yourselves,  and  all 
that  regard  your  own  salvation;  here  is  the  most 
joyful  message  that  was  ever  sent  to  the  ears  of  man, 
"  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  why  will  ye  die?  "  You  are  not 
yet  shut  up  under  desperation.  Here  is  mercy  offer- 
ed you;  turn,  and  you  shall  have  it.  O  sirs!  with 
what  glad  and  joyful  hearts  should  you  receive  these 
tidings !  I  know  this  is  not  the  first  time  that  you 
have  heard  it;  but  how  have  you  regarded  it,  or 
how  do  you  regard  it  now  ?  Hear,  all  you  ignorant, 
careless  sinners,  the  word  of  the  Lord.  Hear,  all 
you  worldlings,  you  sensual  flesh-pleasers;  you  glut- 
tons, and  drunkards,  and  whoremongers,  and  swear- 
ers; you  railers  and  backbiters,  slanderers  and  liars 
— Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  why  will  ye  die? 

Hear,  all  you  cold  and  outside  professors,  and  all 
that  are  strangers  to  the  life  of  Christ,  and  never  knew 
the  power  of  his  cross  and  resurrection,  and  never 
felt  your  hearts  warmed  with  his  love,  and  live  not 
on  him  as  the  strength  of  your  souls — "  Turn  ye, 
turn  ye,  why  will  ye  die?" 

Hear,  all  that  are  void  of  the  love  of  God,  whose 
hearts  are  not  toward  him,  nor  taken  up  with  the 
hopes  of  glory,  but  set  more  by  your  earthly  pros- 
perity and  delights  than  by  the  joys  of  heaven;  all 
you  that  are  religious  but  a  little  by  the  by,  and  give 
God  no  more  than  your  flesh  can  spare;  that  have 
not  denied  your  carnal  selves,  and  forsaken  all  that 
you  have  for  Christ,  in  the  estimation  and  grounded 
9 


9* 


A   CALL    TO 


resolution  of  your  souls,  but  have  some  one  thing  in 
the  world  so  dear  to  you,  that  you  cannot  spare  it 
for  Christ,  if  he  required  it,  but  will  rather  venture 
on  his  displeasure  than  forsake  it — "  Turn  ye,  turn 
ye,  why  will  ye  die? 

If  you  never  heard  it,  or  observed  it  before,  re- 
member that  you  were  told  from  the  word  of  God 
this  day,  that  if  you  will  but  turn,  you  may  live; 
and  if  you  will  not  turn,  you  shall  surely  die. 

What  now  will  you  do,  sirs  ?  What  is  your  reso- 
lution? Will  you  turn,  or  will  you  not?  Halt  not 
any  longer  between  two  opinions.  If  the  Lord  be 
God,  follow  him;  if  your  flesh  be  God,  then  serve  it 
still.  If  heaven  be  better  than  earth  and  fleshly 
pleasures,  come  away,  then,  and  seek  a  better 
country,  and  lay  up  your  treasure  where  rust  and 
moths  do  not  corrupt,  and  thieves  cannot  break 
through  and  steal;  and  be  awakened  at  last,  with  all 
your  might  to  seek  the  kingdom  that  cannot  be  mov- 
ed, Heb.  xii.  28.  and  to  employ  your  lives  on  a  high- 
er design,  and  turn  the  stream  of  your  cares,  and  la- 
bours, another  way  than  formerly  you  have  done. 
But  if  earth  be  better  than  heaven,  or  will  do  more 
for  you,  or  last  you  longer,  then  keep  it,  and  make 
your  best  of  it,  and  follow  it  still.  Sirs,  are  you  re- 
solved what  to  do?  If  you  be  not,  I  will  set  a  few 
more  moving  considerations  before  you,  to  see  if 
reason  will  make  you  resolve. 

Consider,  first,  what  preparations  mercy  hath 
made  for  your  salvation;  and  what  pity  it  is,  that 
any  man  should  be  damned  after  all  this.  The 
time  was,  when  the  flaming  sword  was  in  the  way, 
and  the  curse  of  God's  law  would  have  kept  thee 
back,  if  thou  hadst  been  never  so  willing  to  turn  to 
God.  The  time  was,  when  thyself,  and  all  the 
friends  that  thou  hast  in  the  world,  could  never  have 
produced  thee  the  pardon  of  thy  sins  past,  though 
thou  hadst  never  so  much  lamented  and  reformed 
them.  But  Christ  hath  removed  this  impediment, 
by  the  ransom  of  his  blood.     The  time  was,  that 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  99 

God  was  wholly  unreconciled,  as  being  not  satisfied 
for  the  violation  of  his  law;  but  now  he  is  so  far 
satisfied  and  reconciled,  as  that  he  hath  made  thee 
a  free  act  of  oblivion,  and  a  free  deed  of  gift  of 
Christ  and  life,  and  offereth  it  to  thee,  and  entreat- 
eth  thee  to  accept  it;  and  it  may  be  thine,  if  thou 
wilt.  For,  "  he  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world 
to  himself,  and  hath  committed  to  us  the  word  of 
reconciliation."  2  Cor.  v.  18,  19.  Sinners,  we  too 
are  commanded  to  deliver  this  message  to  you  all, 
as  from  the  Lord:  "  Come,  for  all  things  are  ready." 
Luke  xiv.  17.  Are  all  things  ready,  and  are  you 
unready  ?  God  is  ready  to  entertain  you,  and  par- 
don all  that  you  have  done  against  him,  if  you  will 
but  come.  As  long  as  you  have  sinned,  as  wilfully 
as  you  have  sinned,  he  is  ready  to  cast  all  behind 
his  back,  if  you  will  but  come.  Though  you  have 
been  prodigals,  and  run  away  from  God,  and  have 
staid  so  long,  he  is  ready  even  to  meet  you,  and  em- 
brace you  in  his  arms,  and  rejoice  in  your  conversion, 
if  you  will  but  turn.  Even  the  worldlings  and  drunk- 
ards will  find  God  ready  to  bid  them  welcome,  if  they 
will  but  come.  Doth  not  this  turn  thy  heart  within 
thee?  O  sinner !  if  thou  hast  a  heart  of  flesh,  and 
not  of  stone  in  thee,  methinks  this  should  melt  it. 
Shall  the  dreadful  infinite  Majesty  of  heaven  even 
wait  for  thy  returning,  and  be  ready  to  receive 
thee,  who  hast  abused  him,  and  forgotten  him  so 
long  ?  Shall  he  delight  in  thy  conversion,  that  might 
at  any  time  glorify  his  justice  in  thy  damnation  ?  and 
yet  doth  it  not  melt  thy  heart  within  thee,  and  art 
thou  not  yet  ready  to  come  in?  Hast  thou  not  as 
much  reason  to  be  ready  to  come,  as  God  hath  to 
invite  thee  and  bid  thee  welcome  ? 

But  that  is  not  all:  Christ  bath  done  his  part  on 
the  cross,  and  made  such  way  for  thee  to  the  Father, 
that,  on  his  account,  thou  mayst  be  welcome,  if  thou 
wilt  come.     And  yet  art  thou  not  ready? 

A  pardon  is  already  expressly  granted,  and  offered 
thee  in  the  Gospel.     And  yet  art  thou  not  ready? 


100  A    CALL    TO 

The  ministers  of  the  Gospel  are  ready  to  assist 
thee,  to  instruct  thee,  and  pronounce  the  absolving 
words  of  peace  to  thy  soul;  they  are  ready  to  pray 
for  thee,  and  to  seal  up  thy  pardon  by  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  holy  sacrament.  And  yet  art  thou  not 
ready? 

All  that  fear  God  about  thee,  are  ready  to  rejoice 
in  thy  conversion,  and  to  receive  thee  into  the  com- 
munion of  saints,  and  to  give  thee  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship,  yea,  though  thou  hadst  been  one  that 
had  been  cast  out  of  their  society:  they  dare  not  but 
forgive  where  God  forgiveth,  when  it  is  manifest  to 
them,  by  thy  confession  and  amendment;  they  dare 
not  so  much  as  reproach  thee  with  thy  former  sins, 
because  they  know  that  God  will  not  upbraid  thee 
with  them.  If  thou  hadst  been  never  so  scandalous, 
if  thou  wouldst  but  Jieartily  be  converted  and  come 
in,  they  would  not  refuse  thee,  let  the  world  say  what 
they  would  against  it.  And  are  all  these  ready  to 
receive  thee,  and  yet  art  thou  not  ready  to  come  in  ? 

Yea,  heaven  itself  is  ready:  the  Lord  will  receive 
thee  into  the  glory  of  his  saints.  Vile  as  thou  hast 
been,  if  thou  wilt  but  be  cleansed,  thou  mayst  have 
a  place  before  his  throne;  his  angels  will  be  ready  to 
guard  thy  soul  to  the  place  of  joy,  if  thou  do  but  un- 
feignedly  come  in.  And  is  God  ready,  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ  ready,  the  promise  ready,  and  pardon  rea- 
dy? are  ministers  ready,  and  the  people  of  God  ready, 
and  heaven  itself  ready,  and  angels  ready?  and  all 
these  but  waiting  for  thy  conversion;  and  yet  art 
thou  not  ready?  What!  not  ready  to  live,  when  thou 
hast  been  dead  so  long?  not  ready  to  come  to  thy 
right  understanding,  as  the  prodigal  is  said  to  "  come 
to  himself,"  Luke  xv.  17.  when  thou  hast  been  beside 
thyself  so  long?  Not  ready  to  be  saved,  when  thou 
art  even  ready  to  be  condemned?  Art  thou  not 
ready  to  lay  hold  on  Christ,  that  would  deliver  thee, 
when  thou  art  even  ready  to  sink  into  damnation? 
Art  thou  not  ready  to  be  drawn  from  hell,  when  thou 
art  even  ready  to  be  cast  remediless  into  it?  Alas, 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  101 

man!  dost  thou  know  what  thou  doest?  If  thou  die 
unconverted,  there  is  no  doubt  to  be  made  of  thy 
damnation;  and  thou  art  not  sure  to  live  an  hour. 
And  yet  art  thou  not  ready  to  turn,  and  to  come  in? 
O  miserable  wretch !  Hast  thou  not  served  the  flesh 
and  the  devil  long  enough  ?  Yet  hast  thou  not  enough 
of  sin?  Is  it  so  good  to  thee,  or  so  profitable  for  thee? 
Dost  thou  know  what  it  is,  that  thou  wouldst  yet 
have  more  of  it?  Hast  thou  had  so  many  calls,  and 
so  many  mercies,  and  so  many  warnings,  and  so  ma- 
ny examples  ?  Hast  thou  seen  so  many  lai^  in  the 
grave,  and  yet  art  thou  not  ready  to  let  go  thy  sins, 
and  come  to  Christ?  What!  after  so  many  convic- 
tions and  pangs  of  conscience,  after  so  many  pur- 
poses and  promises,  art  thou  not  yet  ready  to  turn 
and  live?  O  that  thy  eyes,  thy  heart,  were  opened 
to  know  how  fair  an  offer  is  now  made  to  thee !  and 
what  a  joyful  message  it  is  that  we  are  sent  on,  to 
bid  thee  come,  for  all  things  are  ready ! 

II.  Consider  also,  what  calls  thou  hast  to  turn  and 
live.  How  many,  how  loud,  how  earnest,  how 
dreadful :  and  yet  what  encouraging,  joyful  calls ! 

For  the  principal  inviter  is  God  himself.  He  that 
commandeth  heaven  and  earth,  commands  thee  to 
turn,  and  that  presently,  without  delay.  He  com 
mands  the  sun  to  run  its  course,  and  to  rise  upon 
thee  every  morning;  and  though  it  be  so  glorious  an 
orb,  and  many  times  bigger  than  all  the  earth,  yet  it 
obeyeth  him,  and  faileth  not  one  minute  of  its  ap- 
pointed time.  He  commandeth  all  the  planets,  and 
the  orbs  of  heaven,  and  they  obey.  He  command- 
eth the  sea  to  ebb  and  flow,  and  the  whole  creation  to 
keep  its  course,  and  all  obey  him :  the  angels  of  hea- 
ven obey  his  will,  when  he  sends  them  to  minister  to 
such  worms  as  we  on  earth,  Heb.  i.  14;  and  yet  if 
he  command  but  a  sinner  to  turn,  he  will  not  obey 
him.  He  only  thinks  himself  wiser  than  God,  and 
he  cavils  and  pleads  the  cause  of  sin,  and  will  not 
obey.  If  the  Lord  Almighty  say  the  word,  the  hea- 
vens and  all  therein  obey  him :  but  if  he  call  but  a 


102  A   CALL    TO 

drunkard  out  of  an  alehouse,  he  will  not  obey:  or  if 
he  call  a  worldly  fleshly  sinner  to  deny  himself,  and 
mortify  the  flesh,  and  set  his  heart  upon  a  better  in- 
heritance, he  will  not  obey. 

If  thou  hadst  any  love  in  thee,  thou  wouldst  know 
the  voice,  and  say,  O  this  is  my  Father's  call !  how 
can  I  find  in  my  heart  to  disobey?  For  the  sheep  of 
Christ  "  know  and  hear  his  voice,  and  they  follow 
him,  and  he  giveth  them  eternal  life."  John  x.  4. 
If  thou  hadst  any  spiritual  life  and  sense  in  thee,  at 
least  thou  wouldst  say,  This  call  is  the  dreadful 
voice  of  God,  and  who  dare  disobey?  For  saith  the 
prophet,  (Amos  hi.  8.)  "  The  lion  hath  roared,  who 
will  not  fear?"  God  is  not  a  man,  that  thou  shouldst 
dally  and  trifle  with  him.  Remember  what  he  said 
to  Paul  at  his  conversion,  "  It  is  hard  for  thee  to 
kick  against  the  pricks."  Acts  ix.  5.  Wilt  thou  yet 
go  on  and  despise  his  word,  and  resist  his  Spirit, 
and  stop  thine  ear  against  his  call?  who  is  it  that  will 
have  the  worst  of  this?  Dost  thou  know  whom  thou 
disobey  est,  and  contendest  with,  and  what  thou  art 
doing?  It  were  a  far  wiser,  and  easier  task  for  thee 
to  contend  with  the  thorns,  and  spurn  them  with 
thy  bare  feet,  and  beat  them  with  thv  bare  hands, 
or  put  thine  head  into  the  burning  fire.  "  Be  not 
deceived,  God  will  not  be  mocked."  Gal.  vi.  7. 
Whoever  else  be  mocked,  God  will  not:  you  had 
better  play  with  the  fire  in  your  thatch,  than  with 
the  fire  of  his  burning  wrath.  "  For  our  God  is  a 
consuming  fire."  Heb.  xii.  29.  O  how  unmeet 
a  match  art  thou  for  God !  "  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to 
fall  into  his  hands."  Heb.  x.  31.  And  therefore 
it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  contend  with  him,  or  resist 
him.  As  you  love  your  own  souls,  take  heed  what 
you  do:  what  will  you  say  if  he  begin  in  wrath  to 
plead  with  you?  What  will  you  do  if  he  take  you 
once  in  hand?  will  you  then  strive  against  his  judg- 
ment, as  now  ye  do  against  his  grace?  Issu  xxvii. 
4,  5.  cc  Fury  is  not  in  me:"  saith  the  Lord,  (that  is) 
I  delight  not  to  destroy  you:  I  do  it,  as  it  were  un- 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  103 

willingly;  but  yet  "  who  will  set  the  briers  and  thorns 
against  me  in  battle!  I  would  go  through  them;  I 
would  burn  them  together.  Or  let  him  take  hold  of 
my  strength,  that  he  may,make  peace  with  me."  It 
is  an  unequal  combat  ibr  the  briers  and  stubble  to 
make  war  with  the  fire. 

And  thus  you  see,  who  it  is  that  calleth  you,  that 
would  move  you  to  hear  his  call,  and  turn:  so  con- 
sider also  by  what  instruments,  and  how  often,  and 
how  earnestly  he  doth  it. 

1.  Every  leaf  of  the  blessed  book  of  God  hath,  as 
it  were,  a  voice,  and  calls  out  to  thee,  Turn  and  live; 
turn,  or  thou  wilt  die.  How  canst  thou  open  it,  and 
read  a  leaf,  or  hear  a  chapter,  and  not  perceive  God 
bids  thee  turn? 

2.  It  is  the  voice  of  every  sermon  that  thou  near- 
est: for  what  else  is  the  scope  and  drift  of  all,  but  to 
call  and  persuade,  and  entreat  thee  for  to  turn. 

3.  It  is  the  voice  of  many  a  motion  of  the  Spirit 
that  secretly  speaks  over  these  words  again,  and 
urgeth  thee  to  turn. 

4.  It  is  likely,  sometime  it  is  the  voice  of  thy  own 
conscience.  Art  thou  not  sometimes  convinced  that 
all  is  not  well  with  thee?  And  doth  not  thy  con- 
science tell  thee  that  thou  must  be  a  new  man, 
and  take  a  new  course,  and  often  call  upon  thee  to 
return  ? 

5.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  gracious  examples  of  the 
godly.  When  thou  seest  them  live  a  heavenly  life, 
and  fiy  from  the  sin  which  is  thy  delight,  this  really 
calls  on  thee  to  turn. 

6.  It  is  the  voice  of  all  the  works  of  God :  for  they 
also  are  God's  books  that  teach  thee  this  lesson,  by 
showing  thee  his  greatness,  and  wisdom,  and  good- 
ness, and  calling  thee  to  observe  them,  and  admire 
the  Creator.  Psalm  xix.  1,  2.  "The  heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament  show- 
eth  his  handy  work:  day  unto  day  uttereth  speech, 
night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge."  Every  time 
the  sun  riseth  unto  thee,  it  really  calleth  thee  to 


104  A    CALL    TO 

turn,  as  if  it  should  say,  "  What  do  I  travel  and 
compass  the  world  for,  but  to  declare  to  men  the 
glory  of  their  Maker,  and  to  light  them  to  do  his 
work?  And  do  I  still  rind  thee  doing  the  work  of  sin, 
and  sleeping  out  thy  life  in  negligence?  Awake  thou 
that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ 
shall  give  thee  light."  Ephes.  v.  14.  "The  night  is 
far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand;  it  is  now  high  time  to 
awake  out  of  sleep.  Let  us  therefore  cast  off  the 
works  of  darkness,  and  let  us  put  on  the  armour  of 
light.  Let  us  walk  honestly  as  in  the  day,  not  in 
rioting  and  drunkenness,  not  in  chambering  and 
wantonness,  not  in  strife  and  envying,  but  put  ye  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  make  not  provision  for 
the  flesh,  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof."  Rom.  xiii.  11— 
14.  This  text  was  the  means  of  Austin's  conversion. 
7.  It  is  the  voice  of  every  mercy  thou  dost  pos- 
sess; if  thou  couldst  but  hear  and  understand  them, 
they  all  cry  out  unto  thee,  Turn.  Why  doth  the 
earth  bear  thee,  but  to  seek  and  serve  the  Lord? 
Why  dpth  it  afford  thee  its  fruits,  but  to  serve  him  ? 
Why  doth  the  air  afford  thee  breath,  but  to  serve 
him?  Why  do  all  the  creatures  serve  thee  with 
their  labours  and  their  lives,  but  that  thou  mightst 
serve  the  Lord  of  them  and  thee?  Why  doth  he 
give  thee  time,  and  health,  and  strength,  but  only  to 
serve  him  ?  Why  hast  thou  meat,  and  drink,  and 
clothes,  but  for  his  service  ?  Hast  thou  any  thing 
which  thou  hast  not  received?  and  if  thou  didst  re- 
ceive them,  it  is  reason  thou  shouldst  bethink  thee 
from  whom,  and  to  what  end  and  use  thou  didst  re- 
ceive them.  Didst  thou  never  cry  to  him  lor  help 
in  thy  distress,  and  didst  thou  not  then  understand 
that  it  was  thy  part  to  turn  and  serve  him,  if  he 
would  deliver  thee?  He  hath  done  Ins  part,  and 
spared  thee  yet  longer,  and  tried  thee  another,  and 
another  year;  and  yet  dost  thou  not  turn?  You 
know  the  parable  of  the  unfruitful  fig-tree,  Luke  xiii. 
7-9.  When  the  Lord  had  said,  "  Cut  it  down, 
why  cumbereth  it  the  ground?"  he  was  entreated 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  105 

to  try  it  one  year  longer,  and  then  if  it  proved  not 
fruitful,  to  cut  it  down.  Christ  himself  there  makes 
the  application  twice  over,  ver.  3  and  5.  "  Except 
ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  How  many 
years  hath  God  looked  for  the  fruits  of  love  and  ho- 
liness from  thee,  and  hath  found  none,  and  yet  he 
hath  spared  thee  ?  How  many  a  time,  by  thy  wil- 
ful ignorance,  and  carelessness,  and  disobedience, 
hast  thou  provoked  justice  to  say,  "  Cut  him  down, 
why  cumbereth  he  the  ground  ?"  And  yet  mercy  hath 
prevailed,  and  patience  hath  forborne  the  fatal  blow, 
to  this  day.  If  thou  hadst  the  understanding  of  a 
man  within  thee,  thou  wouldst  know  that  all  this 
calleth  thee  to  turn.  "  Dost  thou  think  thou  shalt 
still  escape. the  judgment  of  God?  or  despisest  thou 
the  riches  of  his  goodness,  and  forbearance,  and  long 
suffering?  not  knowing  that  the  goodness  of  God 
leadeth  thee  to  repentance.  But,  after  thy  hardness 
and  impenitent  heart,  treasurest  up  unto  thyself 
wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  and  revelation  of 
the  righteous  judgment  of  God;  who  will  render  to 
every  man  according  to  his  deeds."  Rom.  ii.  3 — 6. 

8.  Moreover,  it  is  the  voice  of  every  affliction  to 
call  thee  to  make  haste  and  turn.  Sickness  and  pain 
cry  Turn:  and  poverty,  and  loss  of  friends,  and 
every  twig  of  the  chastening  rod,  cry  Turn,  and 
yet  wilt  thou  not  hearken  to  the  call?  These  have 
come  near  thee,  and  made  thee  feel;  they  have 
made  thee  groan,  and  can  they  not  make  thee 
turn? 

9.  The  very  frame  of  thy  nature  and  being  itself, 
bespeaketh  thy  return.  Why  hast  thou  reason,  but 
to  rule  thy  flesh,  and  serve  thy  Lord?  Why  hast 
thou  an  understanding  soul,  but  to  learn  and  know 
his  will  and  doit?  Why  hast  thou  a  heart  within 
thee,  that  can  love,  and  fear,  and  desire,  but  that 
thou  shouldst  fear  him,  and  love  him,  and  desire  af- 
ter him  ? 

10.  Yea,  thine  own  engagements  by  promise  to 
the  Lord,  call  upon  thee  to  turn  and  serve  him. 


106  A    CALL    TO 

Thou  hast  bound  thyself  to  him  by  a  baptismal  cov- 
enant, and  renounced  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil.  This  thou  hast  confirmed  by  the  profession 
of  Christianity,  and  renewed  it  at  Sacraments,  and 
in  times  of  affliction;  and  wilt  thou  promise  and 
vow,  and  never  perform  and  turn  to  God? 

Lay  all  these  together  now,  and  see  what  should 
be  the  issue.  The  holy  Scriptures  call  upon  thee  to 
turn;  the  ministers  of  Christ  call  upon  thee  to  turn; 
the  Spirit  cries  Turn;  thy  conscience  cries  Turn; 
the  godly,  by  persuasions  and  examples,  cry  Turn; 
the  whole  world,  and  all  the  creatures  therein  that 
are  presented  to  thy  consideration,  cry  Turn;  the 
patient  forbearance  of  God,  cries  Turn;  all  the  mer- 
cies which  thou  receivest,  cry  Turn;  the  rod  of 
God's  chastisement,  cries  Turn;  thy  reason  and  the 
frame  of  thy  nature  bespeaks  thy  turning;  and  so  do 
all  thy  promises  to  God;  and  yet  art  thou  not  re- 
solved to  turn? 

III.  Moreover,  poor  hard-hearted  sinner,  didst  thou 
ever  consider  upon  what  terms  thou  standest  all  this 
while  with  Him  that  calleth  on  thee  to  turn?  Thou 
art  his  own,  and  o west  him  thyself,  and  all  thou  hast; 
and  may  he  not  command  his  own  ?  Thou  art  his 
absolute  servant,  and  shouldst  serve  no  other  mas- 
ter. Thou  standest  at  his  mercy,  and  thy  life  is  in 
his  hand,  and  he  is  resolved  to  save  thee  upon  no 
other  terms;  thou  hast  many  malicious  spiritual  ene- 
mies, that  would  be  glad  if  God  would  but  forsake 
thee,  and  let  them  alone  with  thee,  and  leave  thee  to 
their  will;  how  quickly  would  they  deal  with  thee 
in  another  manner !  and  thou  canst  not  be  delivered 
from  them  but  by  turning  unto  God.  Thou  art 
fallen  under  his  wrath  by  thy  sin  already;  and  thou 
knowest  not  how  long  his  patience  will  yet  wait. 
Perhaps  this  is  the  last  year,  perhaps  the  last  day. 
His  sword  is  even  at  thy  heart,  while  the  word 
is  in  thine  ear;  and  if  thou  turn  not,  thou  art  a 
dead  and  undone  man.  Were  thy  eyes  hut  open 
to  see  where  thou  standest,  even  upon  the  brink  of 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  107 

hell,  and  to  see  how  many  thousands  are  there  al- 
ready that  did  not  turn,  thou  wouldst  see  that  it  is 
time  to  look  about  thee. 

Well,  sirs,  look  inwards  now  and  tell  me  how  your 
hearts  are  affected  with  those  offers  of  the  Lord, 
You  hear  what  is  his  mind:  he  delighteth  not  in 
your  death;  he  calls  to  you,  Turn,  turn:  it  is  a  fear- 
ful sign  if  all  this  move  thee  not,  or  if  it  do  but  half 
move  thee;  and  much  more  if  it  make  thee  more 
careless  in  thy  misery,  because  thou  hearest  of  the 
mercifulness  of  God.  The  working  of  the  medicine 
will  partly  tell  us  whether  there  be  any  hope  of  the 
cure.  O  what  glad  tidings  would  it  be  to  those  that 
are  now  in  hell,  if  they  had  but  such  a  message  from 
God !  What  a  joyful  word  would  it  be  to  hear  this, 
Turn  and  live !  Yea,  what  a  welcome  word  would 
it  be  to  thyself,  when  thou  hast  felt  that  wrath  of 
God  but  an  hour!  Or,  if  after  a  thousand  or  ten 
thousand  years'  torment,  thou  couldst  but  hear  such 
a  word  from  God,  Turn  and  live;  and  yet  wilt  thou 
neglect  it,  and  suffer  us  to  return  without  our  er- 
rand? 

Behold,  sinners,  we  are  sent  here  as  the  messen- 
gers of  the  Lord,  to  set  before  you  life  and  death. 
What  say  you?  which  of  them  will  you  choose? 
Christ  standeth,  as  it  were,  by  thee,  with  heaven  in 
the  one  hand,  and  hell  in  the  other,  and  offereth  thee 
thy  choice.  Which  wilt  thou  choose?  The  voice 
of  the  Lord  maketh  the  rocks  to  tremble.  Psalm 
xxix.  And  is  it  nothing  to  hear  him  threaten  thee, 
if  thou  wilt  not  turn?  Dost  thou  not  understand 
and  feel  this  voice,  "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  why  will  ye 
die?"  Why?  It  is  the  voice  of  love,  of  infinite 
love,  of  thy  best  and  kindest  friend,  as  thou  mightst 
easily  perceive  by  the  motion;  and  yet  canst  thou 
neglect  it?  It  is  the  voice  of  pity  and  compassion. 
The  Lord  seeth  whither  thou  art  going  better  than 
thou  dost,  which  makes  him  call  after  thee,  Turn, 
turn.  He  seeth  what  will  become  of  thee,  if  thou 
turn  not.     He  thinketh  with  himself,  cAh!   this 


108  A    CALL    TO 

poor  sinner  will  cast  himself  into  endless  torments, 
if  he  do  not  turn.  I  must  in  justice  deal  with  him 
according  to  my  righteous  law.'  And  therefore  he 
calleth  after  thee,  Turn,  turn.  O  sinner!  If  thou 
didst  but  know  the  thousandth  part  as  well  as  God 
doth,  the  danger  that  is  near  you,  and  the  misery 
that  you  are  running  into,  we  should  have  no  more 
need  to  call  after  you  to  turn. 

Moreover,  this  voice  that  calleth  to  thee,  is  the 
same  that  hath  prevailed  with  thousands  already, 
and  called  all  to  heaven  that  are  now  there;  and 
they  would  not  now  for  a  thousand  worlds  that  they 
had  made  light  of  it,  and  not  turned  to  God.  Now 
what  are  they  possessing  that  turned  at  God's  call? 
Now  they  perceive  that  it  was  indeed  the  voice  of 
love,  that  meant  them  no  more  harm  than  their  sal- 
vation; and  if  thou  Avilt  obey  the  same  call,  thou 
shalt  come  to  the  same  happiness.  There  are  mil- 
lions that  must  forever  lament  that  they  turned  not; 
but  there  is  never  a  soul  in  heaven  that  is  sorry  that 
they  were  converted. 

Well,  sirs,  are  you  yet  resolved,  or  are  you  not? 
Do  I  need  to  say  any  more  to  you?  What  will  you 
do?  Will  you  turn  or  not?  Speak,  man,  in  thy 
heart  to  God,  though  you  speak  not  out  to  me; 
speak,  lest  he  take  thy  silence  for  denial;  speak 
quickly,  lest  he  never  make  thee  the  like  otier 
more;  speak  resolvedly,  and  not  waveringly,  for  he 
will  have  no  indifFerents  to  be  his  followers.  Say  in 
thine  heart  now,  without  any  more  delay,  even  be- 
fore thou  stir  hence,  l  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  re- 
solved presently  to  turn.  And  because  I  know  my 
own  insufficiency,  i  am  resolved  to  wait  on  God  lor 
his  grace,  and  to  follow  him  in  his  ways,  and  for- 
sake my  former  courses  and  companions,  and  give 
up  myself  to  the  guidance  of  the  Lord. ' 

Sirs,  you  are  not  shut  up  in  the  darkness  of  heath- 
enism, nor  in  the  desperation  of  the  damned.  Life 
is  before  you,  and  you  may  have  it  on  reasonable 
terms,  if  you  will;  yea,  on  free  cost,  if  you  will  ao 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  109 

cept  it.  The  way  of  God  lieth  plain  before  you; 
the  church  is  open  to  you.  You  may  have  Christ, 
and  pardon,  and  holiness,  if  you  will.  What  say 
you?  Will  you  or  will  you  not?  If  you  say  nay, 
or  say  nothing,  and  still  go  on,  God  is  witness,  and 
this  congregation  is  witness,  and  your  own  conscien- 
ces are  witnesses,  how  fair  an  oner  you  had  this  day. 
Remember,  you  might  have  had  Christ,  and  would 
not.  Remember,  when  you  have  lost  it,  that  you 
might  have  had  eternal  life,  as  well  as  others,  and 
would  not;  and  all  because  you  would  not  turn! 

But  let  us  come  to  the  next  doctrine,  and  hear 
your  reasons. 

Doctrine  6.  The  Lord  condescend eth  to  reason 
the  case  with  unconverted  sinners,  and  to  ask 
them  why  they  will  die. 

A  strange  disputation  it  is,  both  as  to  the  contro- 
versy and  as  to  the  disputants. 

I.  The  controversy,  or  question  propounded  to 
dispute  of  is,  Why  wicked  men  will  destroy  them- 
selves? or,  Why  they  will  rather  die  than  turn; 
whether  they  have  any  sufficient  reason  for  so  doing? 

II.  The  disputants  are  God  and  man:  the  most 
holy  God,  and  wicked  unconverted  sinners. 

Is  it  not  a  strange  thing,  which  God  doth  here 
seem  to  suppose,  that  any  man  should  be  willing  to 
die  and  be  damned?  yea,  that  this  should  be  the  case 
of  the  wicked?  that  is,  of  the  greatest  part  of  the 
world.  But  you  will  say,  '  This  cannot  be;  for 
nature  desireth  the  preservation  and  felicity  of  itself; 
and  the  wicked  are  more  selfish  than  others,  and  not 
less;  and  therefore  how  can  any  man  be  willing  to 
be  damned?5 

To  which  I  answer : — 1 .  It  is  a  certain  truth  that 
no  man  can  be  willing  of  any  evil,  as  evil,  but  only 
as  it  hath  some  appearance  of  good;  much  less  can 
any  maD  be  willing  to  be  eternally  tormented.  Mis- 
ery, as  such,  is  desired  by  none.     2.  But  yet  for  all 


110  A    CALL    TO 

that,  it  is  most  true  which  God  here  teacheth  us, 
that  the  cause  why  the  wicked  die  is,  because  they 
will  die.     And  this  is  true  in  several  respects. 

1.  Because  they  will  go  the  way  that  leads  to  hell, 
although  they  are  told  by  God  and  man  whither  it 
goes  and  whither  it  ends;  and  though  God  hath  so 
often  professed  in  his  word,  that  if  they  hold  on  in 
that  way  they  shall  be  condemned;  and  that  they 
shall  not  be  saved  unless  they  turn,  Isa.  xlviii.  22. 
lvii.  21.  lix.  8,  "  There  is  no  peace,  saith  the  Lord, 
to  the  wicked."  "  The  way  of  peace  they  know  not; 
there  is  no  judgment  in  their  goings;  they  have 
made  them  crooked  paths.  Whosoever  goeth  there- 
in, shall  not  know  peace."  They  have  the  word 
and  the  oath  of  the  living  God  for  it,  that  if  they 
will  not  turn,  they  shall  not  enter  into  his  rest:  and 
yet,  wicked  they  are,  and  wicked  they  will  be,  let 
God  and  man  say  what  they  will:  fleshly  they  are, 
and  fleshly  they  will  be,  worldlings  they  are,  and 
worldlings  they  will  be,  though  God  hath  told  them 
that  the  love  of  the  world  is  enmity  to  God,  and 
that  if  any  man  love  the  world  (in  that  measure)  the 
love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.  James  iv.  4. ;  1 
John  ii.  15.;  so  that  consequently  these  men  are  wil- 
ling to  be  damned,  though  not  directly;  they  are  wil- 
ling to  walk  in  the  way  to  hell,  and  love  the  certain 
cause  of  their  torment;  though  they  do  not  will  hell  it- 
self, and  do  not  love  the  pain  which  they  must  endure. 

Is  not  this  the  truth  of  your  case,  sirs?  You 
would  not  burn  in  hell,  but  you  will  kindle  the  fire 
by  your  sins,  and  cast  yourselves  into  it;  you  would 
not  be  tormented  with  devils  for  ever,  but  you  will 
do  that  which  will  certainly  procure  it  in  despite  of 
all  that  can  be  said  against  it.  It  is  just  as  if  you 
would  say,  '  I  will  drink  this  ratsbane,  or  other  poi- 
son, but  yet  I  will  not  die.  I  will  cast  myself  head- 
long from  the  top  of  a  steeple,  but  yet  I  will  not  kill 
myself.  I  will  thrust  this  knife  into  my  heart,  but 
yet  I  will  not  take  away  my  life.  I  will  put  this  fire 
into  the  thatch  of  my  house,  but  yet  I  will  not  burn 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  Ill 

it.'  Just  so  it  is  with  wicked  men;  they  will  be 
wicked,  and  they  will  live  after  the  flesh  and  the 
world,  and  yet  they  would  not  be  damned.  But  do 
you  not  know  that  the  means  lead  to  the  end  ?  and 
that  God  hath,  by  his  righteous  law,  concluded  that 
ye  must  repent  or  perish?  He  that  will  take  poison, 
may  as  well  say  plainly,  1  will  kill  myself,  for  it  will 
prove  no  better  in  the  end;  though  perhaps  he  loved 
it  ibr  the  sweetness  of  the  sugar  that  was  mixed  with 
it;  and  would  not  be  persuaded  that  it  was  poison, 
but  that  he  might  take  it  and  do  well  enough;  but  it 
is  not  his  conceits  and  confidence  that  will  save  his 
life.  So  if  you  will  be  drunkards,  or  fornicators,  or 
worldlings,  or  live  after  the  flesh,  you  may  as  well 
say  plainly,  We  will  be  damned;  for  so  you  shall  be 
unless  you  turn.  Would  you  not  rebuke  the  folly 
of  a  thief  or  murderer,  that  would  say  I  will  steal 
and  kill,  but  I  will  not  be  hanged,  when  he  knows 
that  if  he  does  the  one,  the  judge  in  justice  will  see 
that  the  other  be  done?  If  he  say,  I  will  steal  and 
murder,  he  may  as  well  say  plainly,  I  will  be  hanged; 
and  if  you  will  go  on  in  a  carnal  life,  you  may  as  well 
say  plainly,  We  will  go  to  hell. 

2.  Moreover,  the  wicked  will  not  use  those  means 
without  which  there  is  no  hope  of  their  salvation. 
He  that  will  not  eat,  may  as  well  say  plainly,  he  will 
not  live,  unless  he  can  tell  how  to  live  without  meat. 
He  that  will  not  go  his  journey,  may  as  wrell  say 
plainly  he  will  not  come  to  the  end.  He  that  falls 
into  the  water,  and  will  not  come  out,  nor  suffer 
another  to  help  him  out,  may  as  well  say  plainly,  he 
will  be  drowned.  So  if  you  be  carnal  and  ungodly, 
and  will  not  be  converted,  nor  use  the  means  by 
which  you  should  be  converted,  but  think  it  more 
ado  than  needs,  you  may  as  well  say  plainly  you  will 
be  damned;  for  if  you  have  found  out  a  way  to  be 
saved  without  conversion,  you  have  done  that  which 
was  never  done  before. 

3.  Yea,  this  is  not  all;  but  the  wicked  are  unwil 
ling  even  to  partake  of  salvation  itself;  though  they 


112  A    CALL    TO 

may  desire  somewhat  which  they  call  by  the  name 
of  heaven,  yet  heaven  itself,  considered  in  the  true 
nature  of  the  felicity,  they  desire  not;  yea,  their 
hearts  are  quite  against  it.  Heaven  is  a  state  of  per- 
fect holiness,  and  of  continual  love  and  praise  to  God, 
and  the  wicked  have  no  heart  to  this.  The  imper- 
fect love  and  praise  and  holiness  which  is  here  to  be 
attained,  they  have  no  mind  of;  much  less  of  that 
which  is  so  much  greater.  The  joys  of  heaven  are 
of  so  pure  and  spiritual  a  nature,  that  the  heart  of 
the  wicked  cannot  truly  desire  them. 

So  that  by  this  time  you  may  see  on  what  ground 
it  is  that  God  supposeth  that  the  wicked  are  willing 
of  their  own  destruction.  They  will  not  turn, 
though  they  must  turn  or  die:  they  will  rather  ven- 
ture on  certain  misery,  than  be  converted;  and  then 
to  quiet  themselves  in  their  sins,  they  will  make 
themselves  believe  that  they  shall  nevertheless  es- 
cape. 

II.  And  as  this  controversy  is  matter  of  wonder, 
that  ever  men  should  be  such  enemies  to  themselves 
as  wilfully  to  cast  away  their  souls,  so  are  the  dispu- 
tants too.  That  God  should  stoop  so  low  as  thus 
to  plead  the  case  with  man;  and  that  man  should  be 
so  strangely  blind  and  obstinate  as  to  need  all  this 
in  so  plain  a  case;  yea,  and  to  resist  all  this,  when 
their  own  salvation  lieth  upon  the  issue. 

No  wonder  that  they  will  not  hear  us  that  are 
men,  when  they  will  not  hear  the  Lord  himself. 
As  God  saith,  Ezek.  iii.  7,  when  he  sent  the  proph- 
et to  the  Israelites.  "  The  house  of  Israel  will  not 
hearken  unto  thee;  for  they  will  not  hearken  unto 
me;  for  all  the  house  of  Israel  are  impudent  and 
hard  hearted."  No  wonder  if  they  can  plead  against 
a  minister,  or  a  godly  neighbour,  when  they  will 
plead  against  the  Lord  himself,  even  against  the 
plainest  passages  of  his  word,  and  think  that  they 
have  reason  on  their  side.  When  they  weary  the 
Lord  with  their  words,  they  say,  "  Wherein  have 
we  wearied  him?  "    Mai.  ii.   17.     The  priests  that 


THE    UNCONTESTED.  113 

despised  his  name  durst  ask,  "  Wherein  have  we  des- 
pised thy  name?"  And  "when  they  polluted  his 
altar,  and  made  the  table  of  the  Lord  con:  emptible," 
they  durst  say,  "  Wherein  have  we  polluted  thee?" 
Mai.  i.  6,  7.  But  "  Wo  unto  him  (saith  the  Lord) 
that  striveth  with  his  Maker!  Let  the  potsherds 
strive  with  the  potsherds  of  the  earth:  shall  the  clay 
say  to  him  that  fashioneth  it,  What  makest  thou?  " 

Quest. — But  why  is  it  that  God  will  leason  the 
case  with  man? 

Answ. — 1.  Because  that  man  being  a  reasonable 
creature,  is  accordingly  to  be  dealt  with,  and  by  rea- 
son to  be  persuaded  and  overcome;  God  hath  there- 
fore endowed  them  with  reason  that  they  might  use 
it  for  him.  One  would  think  a  reasonable  creature 
should  not  go  against  the  clearest,  the  greatest  rea- 
son in  the  world,  when  it  is  set  before  him. 

2.  At  least,  men  shall  see  that  God  did  require 
nothing  of  them  that  was  unreasonable;  but  both  in 
what  he  commandeth  them,  and  what  he  forbids 
them,  he  hath  all  the  right  reason  in  the  world  on 
his  side;  and  they  have  good  reason  to  obey  him, — 
but  none  to  disobey.  And  thus  even  the  damned 
shall  be  forced  to  justify  God,  and  confess  that  it 
was  only  reasonable  that  they  should  have  turned  to 
him;  and  they  shall  be  forced  to  condemn  them- 
selves, and  confess  that  they  had  little  reason  to  cast 
away  themselves  by  the  neglecting  of  his  grace  in  the 
day  of  their  visitation. 

Use.— Look  up  your  best  and  strongest  reasons, 
sinners,  if  you  will  make  good  your  way.  You  see 
now  with  whom  you  have  to  deal.  What  sayest 
thou,  unconverted  sensual  sinner?  Darest  thou  ven- 
ture upon  a  dispute  with  God  ?  Art  thou  able  to  con- 
fute him  ?  Art  thou  ready  to  enter  the  lists  ?  God 
asketh  thee,  Why  wilt  thou  die?  Art  thou  furnish- 
ed with  a  sufficient  answer?  Wilt  thou  undertake  to 
prove  that  God  is  mistaken,  and  that  thou  art  in  the 
right?  O  what  an  undertaking  is  that!  Why,  either 
10 


114  A    CALL   TO 

he  or  you  are  mistaken,  when  he  is  for  your  conver- 
sion, and  you  are  against  it;  he  calls  upon  you  to 
turn,  and  you  will  not;  he  bids  you  do  it  presently, 
even  to-day,  while  it  is  called  to-day,  and  you  delay, 
and  think  it  time  enough  hereafter.  He  saith  it 
must  be  a  total  change,  and  you  must  be  holy  and 
new  creatures,  and  born  again:  and  you  think  that 
less  may  serve  the  turn,  and  that  it  is  enough  to 
patch  up  the  old  man,  without  becoming  new.  Who 
is  in  the  right  now  ?  God  or  you  ?  God  calleth 
you  to  turn,  and  to  live  a  holy  life,  and  you  will 
not; — by  your  disobedient  lives,  it  appears  you  will 
not.  If  you  will,  why  do  you  not?  Why  have  you 
not  done  it  all  this  while?  And  why  do  you  not  fall 
upon  it  yet?  Your  wills  have  the  command  of  your 
lives.  We  may  certainly  conclude  that  you  are  un- 
willing to  turn,  when  you  do  not  turn.  And  why 
will  you  not?  * 

Can  you  give  any  reason  for  it,  that  is  worthy  to 
be  called  a  reason  ? 

I  that  am  but  a  worm,  your  fellow  creature,  of  a 
shallow  capacity,  dare  challenge  the  wisest  of  you  all 
to  reason  the  case  with  me,  while  I  plead  my  Ma- 
ker's cause;  and  I  need  not  be  discouraged  when  I 
know  I  plead  but  the  cause  that  God  pleadeth,  and 
contend  for  him  that  will  have  the  best  at  last.  Had 
I  but  these  two  general  grounds  against  you,  I  am 
sure  that  you  have  no  good  reason  on  your  side. 

I  am  sure  it  can  be  no  good  reason  which  is  against 
the  God  of  truth  and  reason.  It  cannot  be  light  that 
is  contrary  to  the  sun.  There  is  no  knowledge  in 
any  creature  but  what  it  had  from  God ;  and  therefore 
none  can  be  wiser  than  God.  It  were  fatal  presump- 
tion for  the  highest  angel  to  compare  with  his  Crea- 
tor! What  is  it  then  for  a  lamp  of  earth,  an  igno- 
rant sot,  thai  knoweth  not  himself  nor  his  own  soul, 
that  knoweth  but  little  of  the  things  which  he  seeth, 
yea,  that  is  more  ignorant  than  many  of  his  neigh- 
bours, to  set  himself  against  the  wisdom  of  the  Lord ! 
It  is  one  of  the  fullest  discoveries  of  the  horrible  wick- 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  115 

edness  of  carnal  men,  and  the  stark-madness  of  such 
as  sin,  that  so  silly  a  mole  dare  contradict  his  Maker, 
and  call  in  question  the  word  of  God :  yea.  that  those 
people  in  our  parishes,  that  are  so  ignorant  that  they 
cannot  give  us  a  reasonable  answer  concerning  the 
very  principles  of  religion,  are  yet  so  wise  in  their 
own  conceit,  that  they  dare  question  the  plainest 
truths  of  God,  yea,  contradict  them  and  cavil  against 
them,  when  they  can  scarcely  speak  uense,  and  will 
believe  them  no  further  than  agreeth  ivith  their  fool- 
ish wisdom! 

And  as  I  know  that  God  must  needs  be  in  the 
right,  so  I  know  the  case  is  so  palpable  and  gross 
which  he  pleadeth  against,  that  no  man  can  have 
reason  lor  it.  Is  it  possible  that  a  man  can  have  any 
reason  to  break  his  Maker's  laws,  and  reason  to  dis- 
honour the  Lord  of  glory,  and  reason  to  abuse  the 
Lord  that  bought  him  ?  Is  it  possible  that  a  man  can 
have  any  good  reason  to  damn  his  own  immortal 
soul?  Mark  the  Lord's  question,  Turn  ye,  turn  ye, 
why  will  ye  die?  Is  eternal  death  a  thing  to  be  de- 
sired? Are  you  in  love  with  hell?  What  reason 
have  you  wilfully  to  perish?  If  you  think  you  have 
some  reason  to  sin,  should  you  not  remember  that 
death  is  the  wages  of  sin,  Rom.  vi.  23.  and  think 
whether  you  have  any  reason  to  undo  yourselves, 
body  and  soul  for  ever  ?  You  should  not  only  ask 
whether  you  love  the  adder,  but  whether  you  love 
the  sting?  It  is  such  a  thing  for  a  man  to  cast  away 
his  everlasting  happiness,  and  to  sin  against  God, 
that  no  good  reason  can  be  given  for  it;  but  the  more 
any  one  pleads  for  it,  the  more  mad  he  showeth  him- 
self to  be.  Had  you  a  lordship,  or  a  kingdom  offered 
you  for  every  sin  that  you  commit,  it  were  not  reason 
but  madness  to  accept  it.  Could  you  by  every  sin 
obtain  the  highest  thing  on  earth  that  flesh  desireth, 
it  were  of  no  considerable  value  to  persuade  you  in 
reason  to  commit  it.  If  it  were  to  please  yourgreat- 
est  or  dearest  friends,  or  to  obey  the  greatest  prince 
on  earth,  or  to  save  your  lives,  or  to  escape  the  great- 


116  A    CALL    TO 

est  eaithly  misery;  all  these  are  of  no  consideration 
to  draw  a  man  in  reason  to  the  committing  of  one 
sin.  If  it  were  a  right  hand  or  a  right  eye  that 
would  hinder  your  salvation,  it  is  the  most  gainful 
way  to  cast  it  away,  rather  than  to  go  to  hell  to  save 
it;  for  there  is  no  saving  a  part  when  you  lose  the 
whole.  So  exceedingly  great  are  the  matters  of  eter- 
nity, that  nothing  in  this  world  deserveth  once  to  be 
named  in  comparison  with  them;  nor  can  any  earth- 
ly thing,  though  it  were  life,  or  crowns,  or  kingdoms, 
be  a  reasonable  excuse  for  the  neglect  of  matters  of 
such  high  and  everlasting  consequence.  A  man  can 
have  no  reason  to  cross  his  ultimate  end.  Heaven 
is  such  a  thing,  that  if  you  lose  it,  nothing  can  supply 
the  want  or  make  up  the  loss;  and  hell  is  such  a  thing, 
that  if  you  suffer  it,  nothing  can  remove  your  misery, 
or  give  you  ease  and  comfort;  and  therefore  nothing 
can  be  a  valuable  consideration  to  excuse  you  for 
neglecting  your  own  salvation;  for,  saith  our  Saviour, 
t(  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  shall  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul?"  Mark,  viii.  S6. 
O  sirs,  that  you  did  but  know  what  matters  they 
are  that  we  are  now  speaking  to  you  of!  you  would 
have  other  kind  of  thoughts  of  these  things.  If  the 
devil  could  come  to  them,  the  saints  in  heaven,  that 
live  in  the  sight  and  love  of  God,  and  should  offer 
them  sensual  pleasures,  or  merry  company,  or  sports 
to  entice  them  away  from  God  and  glory,  I  pray  you 
tell  me,  how  do  you  think  they  would  entertain  the 
motion  ?  Nay,  or  if  he  should  offer  them  to  be  kings 
on  the  earth,  do  you  think  this  would  entice  them 
down  from  heaven?  O  with  what  hatred  and  holy 
scorn  would  they  reject  the  motion !  And  why  should 
not  you  do  so,  that  have  heaven  opened  to  your 
faith,  if  you  had  but  faith  to  Bee  it?  There  is  never 
a  soul  in  hell,  but  knows,  by  tin's  time,  that  it  was  a 
mad  exchange  to  let  go  heaven  tor  fleshly  pleasure; 
and  that  it  is  not  a  little  mirth  or  pleasure,  or  world- 
ly riches,  or  honour,  or  the  good  will  or  word  of  men. 
that  will  quench  hell  fire,  or  make  him  a  gainer  that 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  117 

Joseth  his  soul.  O  if  you  had  heard  what  1  believe, 
if  you  had  seen  what  I  believe,  and  that  on  the  cred- 
it of  the  word  of  God,  you  would  say  there  can  be 
no  reason  to  warrant  a  man  to  destroy  his  soul;  you 
durst  not  sleep  quietly  another  night,  before  you  had 
resolved  to  turn  and  live. 

If  you  see  a  man  put  his  hand  into  the  fire  till  it 
burn  off,  you  will  marvel  at  it;  but  this  is  a  thing  that 
a  man  may  have  a  reason  for,  as  Bishop  Cranmer 
had,  when  he  burnt  off  his  hand  for  subscribing  to 
Popery.  If  you  see  a  man  cut  off  a  leg,  or  an  arm, 
it  is  a  sad  sight;  but  this  is  a  thing,  that  a  man  may 
have  a  good  reason  for,  as  many  a  man  hath  it  done 
to  save  his  life.  If  you  see  a  man  give  his  body  to 
be  tormented  with  scourges  and  racks,  or  to  be  burn- 
ed to  ashes,  and  refuse  deliverance  when  it  is  offered, 
this  is  a  hard  case  to  flesh  and  blood;  but  this  a  man 
may  have  good  reason  for,  as  you  may  see  in  Heb. 
xi.  33 — 36.  and  as  many  a  hundred  martyrs  have 
done.  But  for  a  man  to  forsake  the  Lord  that  made 
him,  and  to  run  into  the  fire  of  hell,  when  he  is  told 
of  it,  and  entreated  to  turn  that  he  may  be  saved, — 
this  is  a  thing  that  can  have  no  reason  in  the  world 
to  justify  or  excuse  it.  For  heaven  will  pay  for 
the  loss  of  any  thing  that  we  can  lose  to  obtain  it, 
or  for  any  labour  which  we  bestow  for  it;  but 
nothing  can  pay  for  the  loss  of  heaven. 

I  beseech  you  now  let  this  word  come  nearer  to 
your  heart.  As  you  are  convinced  that  you  have  no 
reason  to  destroy  yourselves,  so  tell  me  what  reason 
have  you  to  refuse  to  turn  and  live  to  God  ?  What 
reason  has  the  veriest  worldling,  or  drunkard,  or  ig- 
norant careless  sinner  of  you  all,  why  he  should  not 
be  as  holy  as  any  you  know,  and  be  as  careful  for 
his  soul  as  any  other?  Will  not  hell  be  as  intolera- 
ble to  you  as  to  others  ?  Should  not  your  own  souls 
be  as  dear  to  you  as  theirs  to  them  ?  Hath  not  God 
as  much  authority  over  you  ?  Why  then  will  you 
not  become  a  sanctified  people,  as  well  as  they? 

O  sirs,  when  God  bringeth  the  matter  down  to 


118  A    CALL    TO 

the  very  principles  of  nature,  and  shows  that  you 
have  no  more  reason  to  be  ungodly  than  you  have 
to  damn  your  own  souls, — if  yet  you  will  not  under- 
stand and  turn,  it  seems  a  desperate  case  that  you 
are  in. 

And  now,  either  you  have  good  reason  for  what 
you  do,  or  you  have  not:  if  not,  will  you  go  against 
reason  itself?  Will  you  do  that  which  you  have  no 
reason  for?  But  if  you  think  you  have,  produce  it, 
and  make  the  best  of  your  matter.  Reason  the  case 
a  little  with  me,  your  fellow-creature,  which  is  far 
easier  than  to  reason  the  case  with  God;  tell  me, 
man,  here  before  the  Lord,  as  if  thou  wert  to  die 
this  hour,  why  shouldst  thou  not  resolve  to  turn  this 
day;  before  thou  stir  from  the  place  thou  standest 
in,  what  reason  hast  thou  to  deny  or  to  delay? 
Hast  thou  any  reason  that  satisfieth  thine  own  con- 
science for  it,  or  any  that  thou  darest  own  and  plead 
at  the  bar  of  God?  If  thou  hast,  let  us  hear  them, 
bring  them  forth,  and  make  them  good.  But,  alas! 
what  poor  stuff,  what  nonsense,  instead  of  reasons, 
do  we  daily  hear  from  ungodly  men!  But  for  their 
necessity  I  should  be  ashamed  to  name  them. 

Object.  1.  One  saith,  if  none  shall  be  saved  but 
such  converted  and  sanctified  ones  as  you  talk  of, 
then  heaven  would  be  but  empty;  then  God  help 
a  great  many.  • 

Answ.  Why,  it  seems  you  think  that  God  doth  not 
know,  or  else  that  he  is  not  to  be  believed !  Measure 
not  all  by  yourselves :  God  hath  thousands  and  mil- 
lions of  his  sanctified  ones;  but  yet  they  are  few  in 
comparison  of  the  world,  as  Christ  himself  hath  told 
us,  Matt.  vii.  13,  14.  Luke  xi.  32.  It  better  beseems 
you  to  make  that  use  of  this  truth  which  Christ 
teacheth  you:  '  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate; 
for  strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is  the  way,  that 
leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it;  but 
wide  is  the  gate  and  broad  is  the  way  which  leadeth 
to  destruction,  and  many  there  be  that  go  in  thereat, ' 
Luke  xiiL  22-24.     Fear  not,  little  flock  (saith  Christ 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  119 

to  his  sanctified  ones)  for  it  is  your  Father's  good 
pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom.     Luke  xii.  32. 

Object.  2.  I  am  sure,  if  such  as  I  go  to  hell,  we 
shall  have  store  of  company. 

Answ.  And  will  that  be  any  ease  or  comfort  to 
you?  Or  do  you  think  you  may  not  have  company 
enough  in  heaven  ?  Will  you  be  undone  for  com- 
pany, or  will  you  not  believe  that  God  will  execute 
his  threatenings,  because  there  be  so  many  that  are 
guilty?     These  are  all  unreasonable  conceits. 

Object.  3.  But  all  men  are  sinners,  even  the  best 
of  you  all. 

Jlnsw.  But  all  are  not  unconverted  sinners.  The 
godly  live  not  in  gross  sins :  and  their  very  infirmi- 
ties are  their  grief  and  burden,  which  they  daily 
long,  and  pray,  and  strive  to  be  rid  of.  Sin  hath 
not  dominion  over  them. 

Object.  4.  I  do  not  see  that  professors  are  any  bet- 
ter than  other  men;  they  will  overreach  and  oppress, 
and  are  as  covetous  as  any. 

Jlnsw.  Whatever  hypocrites  are,  it  is  not  so  with 
those  that  are  sanctified.  God  hath  thousands,  and 
tens  of  thousands  that  are  otherwise,  though  the 
malicious  world  doth  accuse  them  of  what  they  can 
never  prove,  and  of  that  which  never  entered  into 
their  hearts;  and  commonly  they  charge  them  with 
heart-sins,  which  none  can  see  but  God,  because 
they  can  charge  them  with  no  such  wickedness  in 
their  lives,  as  they  are  guilty  of  themselves. 

Object.  5.  But  I  am  no  whoremonger,  nor  drunk- 
ard, nor  oppressor;  and  therefore  why  should  you 
call  upon  me  to  be  converted  ? 

Answ.  As  if  you  were  not  born  after  the  flesh, 
and  had  not  lived  after  the  flesh,  as  well  as  others ! 
Is  it  not  as  great  a  sin  as  any  of  these,  for  a  man  to 
have  an  earthly  mind,  and  to  love  the  world  above 
God,  and  to  have  an  unbelieving,  unhumbled  heart? 
Nay,  let  me  tell  you  more,  that  many  persons  that 
avoid  disgraceful  sins,  are  as  fast  glued  to  the  world, 
and  as  much  slaves  to .  the  flesh,  and  as  strange  to 


120  A    CALL    TO 

God,  and  averse  to  heaven  in  their  more  civil  course, 
as  others  are  in  their  more  shameful,  notorious  sins. 

Object.  6.  But  I  mean  nobody  any  harm,  nor  do 
any  harm;  and  why  then  should  God  condemn  me? 

Jlnsvj.  Is  it  no  harm  to  neglect  the  Lord  that 
made  thee,  and  the  work  for  which  thou  earnest  in- 
to the  world,  and  to  prefer  the  creature  before  the 
Creator,  and  to  neglect  grace  that  is  daily  offered 
thee?  It  is  the  depth  of  thy  sinfulness  to  be  so  in- 
sensible of  it:  the  dead  feel  not  that  they  are  dead. 
If  once  thou  vvert  made  alive,  thou  wouldst  see  more 
amiss  in  thyself,  and  marvel  at  thyself  for  making  so 
light  of  it. 

Object  7.  I  think  you  would  make  men  mad,  un- 
der pretence  of  converting  them;  it  is  enough  to  rack 
the  brains  of  simple  people  to  muse  so  much  on  mat- 
ters so  high  for  them. 

Jinsw.  1.  Can  you  be  more  mad  than  you  are  al- 
ready? or,  at  least,  can  there  be  a  more  dangerous 
madness  than  to  neglect  your  everlasting  welfare, 
and  wilfully  undo  yourselves? 

2.  A  man  is  never  well  in  his  wits  till  he  be  con- 
verted: he  never  knows  God,  nor  knows  sin,  nor 
knows  Christ,  nor  knows  the  world,  nor  himself,  nor 
what  his  business  is  on  earth,  so  as  to  set  himself 
about  it,  till  he  be  converted.  The  Scripture  saith, 
that  the  wicked  are  unreasonable  men,  2  These,  iii. 
2,  and  that  the  wisdom  of  the  world  is  foolishness 
with  God,  1  Cor.  i.  20.  and  Luke  xv.  17.  It  is  said 
of  the  prodigal,  that  when  he  came  to  himself,  he 
resolved  to  return.  It  is  a  wise  world  when  men 
will  disobey  God,  and  run  to  hell,  for  fear  of  being 
out  of  their  wits. 

3.  What  is  there  in  the  work  that  Christ  calls 
you  to,  that  should  drive  a  man  out  of  his  wits? 
Is  it  the  loving  God,  and  calling  upon  him,  and  com- 
fortably thinking  of  the  glory  to  come,  and  the  fbr- 
sakingof  our  sins,  and  loving  one  another,  and  de- 
lighting ourselves  in  the  service  of  God?  Are  these 
such  things  as  should  make  men  mad? 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  121 

4.  And  whereas  you  say  that  these  matters  are 
too  high  for  us;  you  accuse  God  himself,  for  making 
this  our  work,  and  giving  us  his  word,  and  com- 
manding ail  that  will  be  blessed  to  meditate  on  it 
day  and  night. — Are  the  matters  which  we  are  made 
for,  and  which  we  live  for,  too  high  for  us  to  meddle 
with  ?  This  is  plainly  to  unman  us,  and  to  make 
beasts  of  us,  as  if  we  were  like  them  that  must  med- 
dle  with  no  higher  matters  than  what  belongs  to  flesh 
and  earth.  If  heaven  be  too  high  for  you  to  think 
on  and  provide  ibr,  it  will  be  too  high  for  you  ever 
to  possess. 

5.  If  God  should  sometimes  suffer  any  weak-head- 
ed persons  to  be  distracted  by  thinking  of  eternal 
things,  this  is  because  they  misunderstand  them, 
and  run  without  a  guide:  and  of  the  two  I  had  rath- 
er be  in  the  case  of  such  a  one,  than  of  the  mad  un- 
converted world,  that  take  their  distraction  to  be 
their  wisdom. 

Object.  8.  I  do  not  think  that  God  cares  so  much 
what  men  think,  or  speak,  or  do,  as  to  make  so  great 
a  matter  of  it. 

Answ.  It  seems  then  you  take  the  word  of  God 
to  be  false;  then  what  will  you  believe?  But  your 
own  reason  might  teach  you  better,  if  you  believe 
not  the  Scriptures:  for  you  see  God  sets  not  so  light 
by  us  but  that  he  vouchsafed  to  make  us,  and  still 
preserveth  us,  and  daily  upholdeth  us,  and  provideth 
for  us;  and  will  any  wise  man  make  a  curious  frame 
for  nothing?  Will  you  make  or  buy  a  clock  or 
watch,  and  daily  look  at  it,  and  not  care  whether  it 
go  true  or  false?  Surely,  if  you  believe  not  a  partic- 
ular eye  of  Providence  observing  your  hearts  and 
lives,  you  cannot  believe  or  expect  any  particular 
Providence  to  observe  your  wants  and  troubles,  or  to 
relieve  you;  and  if  God  had  so  little  care  for  you  as 
you  imagine,  you  would  never  have  lived  till  now;  a 
hundred  diseases  would  have  striven  which  should 
first  destroy  you;  yea,  the  devils  would  have  haunts 
ed  you,  and  fetched  you  away  alive,  as  the  great 
11 


122  A    CALL    TO 

fishes  devour  the  less,  and  as  ravenous  beasts  and 
birds  devour  others.  You  cannot  think  that  God 
made  man  for  no  end  or  use;  and  if  he  made  him  for 
any,  it  was  surely  for  himself;  and  can  you  think  he 
cares  not  whether  his  end  be  accomplished,  and 
whether  we  do  the  work  that  we  are  made  for? 

Yea,  by  this  atheistical  objection,  you  make  God 
to  have  made  and  upheld  all  the  world  in  vain :  for 
what  are  all  other  lower  creatures  for,  but  for  man? 
What!  doth  the  earth  but  bear  us,  and  nourish  us, 
and  the  beasts  do  serve  us  with  their  labours  and. 
lives,  and  so  of  the  rest?  And  hath  God  made  so 
glorious  a  habitation,  and  set  man  to  dwell  in  it,  and 
made  all  his  servants;  and  now  doth  he  look  for 
nothing  at  his  hands,  nor  care  how  he  thinks,  or 
speaks,  or  lives?     This  is  most  unreasonable. 

Object.  9.  It  was  a  better  world  when  men  did 
not  make  so  much  ado  in  religion. 

Jlnsw.  1 .  It  hath  ever  been  the  custom  to  praise 
the  times  past;  that  world  that  you  speak  of  was 
wont  to  say  it  was  a  better  world  in  their  forefath- 
ers' days;  and  so  did  they  of  their  forefathers.  This 
is  but  an  old  custom,  because  we  all  feel  the  evil  of 
our  own  times,  but  we  see  not  that  which  was  be- 
fore us. 

2.  Perhaps  you  speak  as  you  think.  Worldlings 
think  the  world  is  at  the  best  when  it  is  agreeable  to 
their  minds,  and  when  they  have  most  mirth  and 
worldly  pleasure;  and  I  doubt  not  but  the  devil,  as 
well  as  you,  would  say,  that  then  it  was  a  better 
world;  for  then  he  had  more  service  and  less  disturb- 
ance. But  the  world  is  at  the  best  when  God  is 
most  loved,  regarded,  and  obeyed;  and  how  else  will 
you  know  when  the  world  is  good  or  bad,  but  by 
this? 

Object.  10.  There  are  so  many  ways  and  religions, 
that  we  know  not  which  to  be  of,  and  therefore  we 
will  be  even  as  we  are. 

Jinsw.  Because  there  are  many,  will  you  be  of 
that  way  that  you  may  be  sure  is  wrong?     None 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  123 

are  further  out  of  the  way  than  worldly,  fleshly,  un- 
converted sinners;  for  they  do  not  only  err  in  this 
or  that  opinion,  as  many  sects  do,  but  in  the  very 
scope  and  drift  of  their  lives.  If  you  were  going  a 
journey  that  your  life  lay  on,  would  you  stop  or  turn 
again,  because  you  met  with  some  cross-ways,  or 
t  because  you  saw  some  travellers  go  the  horse-way, 
and  some  the  foot-way,  and  some  perhaps  break 
over  the  hedge,  yea,  and  some  miss  the  way?  Or 
would  you  not  rather  be  the  more  careful  to  inquire 
the  way?  If  you  have  some  servants  that  know  not 
how  to  do  your  work  right,  and  some  that  are  un- 
faithful, would  you  take  it  well  of  any  of  the  rest 
that  would  therefore  be  idle  and  do  you  no  service, 
because  they  see  the  rest  so  bad  ? 

Object.  11.  I  do  not  see  that  it  goes  any  better 
with  those  that  are  so  godly,  than  with  other  men; 
they  are  as  poor2  and  in  as  much  trouble  as  others. 

JSnsvj.  And  perhaps  in  much  more,  when  God 
sees  it  meet.  They  take  not  earthly  prosperity  for 
their  wages;  they  have  laid  up  their  treasure  and 
hopes  in  another  world;  or  else  they  are  not  Chris- 
tians indeed;  the  less  they  have,  the  more  is  behind, 
and  they  are  content  to  wait  till  then. 

Object.  12.  When  you  have  said  all  that  you  can, 
I  am  resolved  to  hope  well,  and  trust  in  God,  and  do 
as  well  as  I  can,  and  not  make  so  much  ado. 

Answ.  1.  Is  that  doing  as  well  as  you  can,  when 
you  will  not  turn  to  God,  but  your  heart  is  against 
his  holy  and  diligent  service?  It  is  as  well  as  you 
will,  indeed,  but  that  is  your  misery. 

2.  My  desire  is,  that  you  should  hope  and  trust  in 
God.  But  for  what  is  it  that  you  will  hope  ?  Is  it  to 
be  saved,  if  you  turn  and  be  sanctified?  For  this 
you  have  God's  promise,  and  therefore  hope  for  it 
and  spare  not.  But  if  you  hope  to  be  saved  without 
conversion  and  a  holy  life,  this  is  not  to  hope  in  God, 
but  in  Satan,  or  yourselves;  for  God  hath  given  you 
no  such  promise,  but  told  you  the  contrary;  but  it  i3 


124  A    CALL    TO 

Satan  and  self-love  that  made  you  such  promises, 
and  raised  you  to  such  hopes. 

Well,  if  these,  and  such  as  these,  be  all  you  have 
to  say  against  conversion  and  a  holy  life,  your  all  is 
nothing,  and  worse  than  nothing;  and  if  these,  and 
such  as  these,  seem  reasons  sufficient  to  persuade 
you  to  forsake  God,  and  cast  yourselves  into  hell, 
the  Lord  deliver  you  from  such  reasons,  and  from 
such  blind  understandings,  and  from  such  senseless 
hardened  hearts.  Dare  you  stand  to  aver  one  of 
these  reasons  at  the  bar  of  God?  Do  you  think  it 
will  then  serve  your  turn  to  say,  c  Lord,  I  did  not 
turn,  because  I  had  so  much  to  do  in  the  world,  or 
because  I  did  not  like  the  lives  of  some  professors,  or 
because  I  saw  men  of  so  many  minds!'  O  how 
easily  will  the  light  of  that  day  confound  and  shame 
such  reasonings  as  these!  Had  you  the  world  to 
look  after?  Let  the  world  which  you  served  now 
pay  you  your  wages,  and  save  you  if  it  can.  Had 
you  not  a  better  world  to  look  after  first,  and  were 
ye  not  commanded  to  seek  first  God's  kingdom  and 
righteousness,  and  promised  that  other  things  should 
be  added  to  you  ?  Matt.  vi.  S3.  And  were  ye  not 
told,  that  godliness  was  profitable  to  all  things,  hav- 
ing the  promise  of  this  life,  and  of  that  which  is  to 
come?  1  Tim.  iv.  8.  Did  the  sins  of  professors 
hinder  you  ?  You  should  rather  have  been  the  more 
heedful,  and  learned,  by  their  falls,  to  beware,  and 
have  been  the  more  careful,  and  not  to  be  more 
careless.  It  was  the  Scripture,  and  not  their  lives, 
that  was  your  rule.  Did  the  many  opinions  of  the 
world  hinder  you?  Why,  the  Scripture,  that  was 
your  rule,  did  teach  you  but  one  way,  and  that  was 
the  right  way.  If  you  had  followed  that,  even  in  so 
much  as  was  plain  and  easy,  you  should  never  have 
miscarried.  Will  not  such  answers  as  these  con- 
found and  silence  you?  If  these  will  not,  God  hath 
those  that  will.  When  he  asked  the  man,  "  Friend, 
how  earnest  thou  in  hither,  not  having  on  a  wedding* 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  125 

garment?  "  Matt.  xxii.  12.  that  is,  what  dost  thou 
in  my  Church  among  professed  Christians,  without 
a  hoiy  heart  and  life, — what  answer  did  he  make? 
Why  the  text  saith,  "  he  was  speechless;  "  he  had 
nothing  to  say.  The  clearness  of  the  case,  and  the 
majesty  of  God,  will  then  easily  stop  the  mouths  of 
the  most  confident  of  you,  though  you  will  not  be 
put  down  by  any  thing  we  can  say  to  you  now,  but 
will  make  good  your  cause,  be  it  ever  so  bad.  I 
know  already  that  never  a  reason  that  now  you  can 
give  me  will  do  you  any  good  at  last,  when  your 
case  must  be  opened  before  the  Lord  and  all  the 
world. 

Nay,  I  scarce  think  that  your  own  consciences 
are  well  satisfied  with  your  reasons;  for  if  they  are, 
it  seems  then  you  have  not  so  much  as  a  purpose  to 
repent.  But  if  you  do  purpose  to  repent,  it  seems 
you  do  not  put  much  confidence  in  your  reasons 
which  you  bring  against  it. 

What  say  you,  unconverted  sinners?  Have  you 
any  good  reasons  to  give  why  you  should  not  turn, 
and  presently  turn  with  all  your  hearts?  Or  will 
you  go  to  hell  in  despite  of  reason  itself?  Bethink 
you  what  you  do  in  time,  for  it  will  shortly  be  too 
late  to  bethink  you.  Can  you  find  any  fault  with 
God,  or  his  work,  or  his  wages?  Is  he  a  bad  master? 
Is  the  devil,  whom  ye  serve,  a  better?  or  is  the  flesh 
a  better?  Is  there  any  harm  in  a  holy  life?  Is  a 
life  of  worldliness  and  ungodliness  better?  Do  you 
think  in  your  consciences  that  it  would  do  you  any 
harm  to  be  converted  and  live  a  holy  life?  What 
harm  can  it  do  you?  Is  it  harm  to  you  to  have  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  within  you,  and  to  have  a  cleansed 
purified  heart?  If  it  be  bad  to  be  holy,  why  doth 
God  say,  "  Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy?55  1  Pet.  i.  15, 
16.  Lev.  xx.  7.  Is  it  evil  to  be  like  God?  Is  it 
not  said  that  God  made  man  in  his  own  image? 
Why,  this  holiness  is  his  image;  this  Adam  lost,  and 
this  Christ  by  his  word  and  Spirit  would  restore 
to  you,  as  he  doth  to  all  that  he  will  save.     Why 


126 


A    CALL    TO 


were  you  baptized  into  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  why  do 
you  baptize  your  children  into  the  Holy  Ghost,  as 
your  Sanctifier,  if  you  will  not  be  sanctified  by  him, 
but  think  it  a  hurt  to  you  to  be  sanctified  ?  Tell  me 
truly,  as  before  the  Lord,  though  you  are  loth  to 
live  a  holy  life,  had  you  not  rather  die  in  the  case  of 
those  that  do  so,  than  of  others  ?  If  you  were  to 
die  this  day,  had  you  not  rather  die  in  the  case  of  a 
converted  man  than  of  an  unconverted?  of  a  holy 
and  heavenly  man  than  of  a  carnal  earthly  man? 
and  would  you  not  say  as  Baalam,  Numb,  xxiii.  10. 
"Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my 
last  end  be  like  his ! "  And  why  will  you  not  now 
be  of  the  mind  that  you  will  be  of  then?  First  or 
last  you  must  come  to  this,  either  to  be  converted, 
or  to  wish  you  had  been,  when  it  is  too  late. 

But  what  is  it  that  you  are  afraid  of  losing,  if  you 
turn?  Is  it  your  friends?  You  will  but  change 
them;  God  will  be  your  friend,  and  Christ  and  the 
Spirit  will  be  your  friend,  and  every  Christian  will 
be  your  friend.  You  will  get  one  friend  that  will 
stand  you  in  more  stead  than  all  the  friends  in  the 
world  could  have  done.  The  friends  you  lose  would 
have  but  enticed  you  to  hell,  but  could  not  have 
delivered  you :  but  the  friend  you  get  will  save  you 
from  hell,  and  bring  you  to  his  own  eternal  rest. 

Is  it  your  pleasures  that  you  are  afraid  of  losing? 
You  think  you  shall  never  have  a  merry  day  again 
if  once  you  be  converted.  Alas!  that  you  should 
think  it  a  greater  pleasure  to  live  in  foolish  sports 
and  merriments,  and  please  your  flesh,  than  to  live 
in  the  believing  thoughts  of  glory,  and  in  the  love  of 
God,  and  in  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  in  which  the  state  of  grace  consisteth. 
Rom.  xiv.  17.  If  it  would  be  a  greater  pleasure  for 
you  to  think  of  your  lands  and  inheritance,  if  you 
were  lord  of  all  the  country,  than  it  is  for  a  child 
to  play  at  pins;  why  should  it  not  be  a  greater  joy 
to  you  to  think  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  being 
yours,  than  of  all  the  riches  or  pleasures  of  the 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  127 

world?  As  it  is  but  foolish  childishness  that  makes 
children  so  delight  in  toys,  that  they  would  not  leave 
them  for  all  your  lands,  so  it  is  but  foolish  world- 
liness,  and  ileshliness,  and  wickedness,  that  makes 
you  so  much  delight  in  your  houses  and  lands, 
and  meat  and  drink,  and  ease  and  honour,  as  that  you 
would  not  part  with  them  for  the  heavenly  delights. 
But  what  will  you  do  for  pleasure  when  these  are 
gone?  Do  you  not  think  of  that?  When  your 
pleasures  eni  in  horror,  and  go  out  like  a  taper,  the 
pleasures  of  the  saints  are  then  at  the  best.  I  have 
had  myself  but  a  little  taste  of  the  heavenly  pleas- 
ures in  the  forethoughts  of  the  blessed  approaching 
day,  and  in  the  present  persuasions  of  the  love  of 
God  in  Christ;  but  I  have  taken  too  deep  a  draught 
of  earthly  pleasures:  so  that  you  may  see,  if  I  be 
partial,  it  is  on  your  side;  and  yet  I  must  profess 
from  that  little  experience,  that  there  is  no  compari- 
son. There  is  more  joy  to  be  had  in  a  day,  if  the 
sun  of  life  shine  clear  upon  us,  in  the  state  of  holi- 
ness, than  in  a  whole  life  of  sinful  pleasures.  "  I 
had  rather  be  a  door-keeper  in  the  house  of  God, 
than  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness."  Ps.  lxxxiv. 
10.  "  A  day  in  his  courts  is  better  than  a  thous- 
and "  any  where  else.  Ps.  lxxxiv.  10.  The  mirth 
of  the  wicked  is  like  the  laughter  of  a  madman,  that 
knows  not  his  own  misery;  and  therefore  Solomon 
says  of  such  laughter,  "  it  is  mad;  and  of  mirth, 
what  doth  it?"  Eccles.  ii.  2.  vii.  2—6.  "  It  is  better 
to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning,  than  to  go  to  the 
house  of  feasting;  for  that  is  the  end  of  all  men,  and 
the  living  will  lay  it  to  his  heart.  Sorrow  is  better 
then  laughter;  fbr  by  the  sadness  of  the  countenance 
the  heart  is  made  better.  The  heart  of  the  wise  is  in 
the  house  of  mourning;  but  the  heart  of  fools  is  in 
the  house  of  mirth.  It  is  better  to  bear  the  rebuke 
of  the  wise,  than  to  hear  the  song  of  fools;  for  as 
the  crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot,  so  is  the  laugh- 
ter of  the  fool."  All  the  pleasure  of  fleshly  things 
is  but  like  the  scratching  of  a  man  that  hath  the 


128  A    CALL    TO 

itch;  it  is  his  disease  that  makes  him  desire  it,  and  a 
wise  man  had  rather  be  without  his  pleasure  than  be 
troubled  with  his  itch.  Your  loudest  laughter  is  but 
like  that  of  a  man  that  is  tickled;  he  laughs  when  he 
has  no  cause  of  joy.  Judge,  as  you  are  men,  whether 
this  be  a  wise  man's  part.  It  is  but  your  carnal  un- 
sanctified  nature  that  makes  a  holy  life  seem  grievous 
to  you,  and  a  course  of  sensuality  seem  more  delight- 
ful. If  you  will  but  turn,  the  Holy  Ghost  will  give 
you  another  nature  and  inclination,  and  then  it  will 
be  more  pleasant  to  you  to  be  rid  of  your  sin,  than 
now  it  is  to  keep  it;  and  you  will  then  say,  that  you 
knew  not  what  a  comfortable  life  was  till  now,  and 
that  it  was  never  well  with  you  till  God  and  holiness 
were  your  delight. 

Quest.  But  how  cometh  it  to  pass  that  men 
should  be  so  unreasonable  in  the  matters  of  salva- 
tion ?  They  have  wit  enough  in  other  matters :  what 
makes  them  so  loth  to  be  converted,  that  there 
should  need  so  many  words  in  so  plain  a  case,  and 
all  will  not  do,  but  the  most  will  live  and  die  uncon- 
verted ? 

Jlnsw.  To  name  them  only  in  a  few  words,  the 
causes  are  these  : 

1.  Men  are  naturally  in  love  with  the  earth  and 
flesh;  they  are  born  sinners,  and  their  nature  hath 
an  enmity  to  God  and  goodness,  as  the  nature  of  a 
serpent  hath  to  a  man :  and  when  all  that  we  can  say 
goes  against  an  habitual  inclination  of  their  natures, 
no  marvel  if  it  prevail  little. 

2.  They  are  in  darkness,  and  know  not  the  very 
things  they  hear.  Like  a  man  that  was  born  blind, 
and  hears  a  high  commendation  of  the  light;  but 
what  will  hearing  do,  unless  he  sees  it?  They  know 
not  what  God  is,  nor  what  is  the  power  of  the  cross 
of  Christ,  nor  what  the  spirit  of  holiness  is,  nor  what 
it  is  to  live  in  love  by  faith:  they  know  not  the  cer- 
tainty, and  suitableness,  and  excellency  of  the  heav- 
enly inheritance.  They  know  not  what  conversion 
and  a  holy  mind  and  conversation  is,  even  when  they 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  129 

hear  of  it.  They  are  in  a  mist  of  ignorance.  They 
are  lost  and  bewildered  in  sin;  like  a  man  that  has 
lost  himself  in  the  night,  and  knows  not  where  he  is, 
nor  how  to  come  to  himself  again,  till  the  day-light 
recover  him. 

;  3.  They  are  wilfully  confident  that  they  need  no 
conversion,  but  some  partial  amendment;  and  that 
they  are  in  the  way  to  heaven  already;  and  are  con- 
verted when  they  are  not.  And  if  you  meet  a  man 
that  is  quite  out  of  his  way,  you  may  long  enough 
call  on  him  to  turn  back  again,  if  he  will  not  believe 
you  that  he  is  out  of  the  way. 

4.  They  are  become  slaves  to  their  flesh,  and 
drowned  in  the  world  to  make  provision  for  it. 
Their  lusts,  and  passions,  and  appetites  have  dis- 
tracted them,  and  got  such  a  hand  over  them,  that 
they  cannot  tell  how  to  deny  them,  or  how  to  mind 
any  thing  else;  so  that  the  drunkard  saith,  I  love  a 
cup  of  good  drink,  and  I  cannot  forbear  it:  the  glut- 
ton saith,  I  love  good  cheer,  and  I  cannot  forbear; 
the  fornicator  saith,  I  love  to  have  my  lust  fulfilled, 
and  I  cannot  forbear;  and  the  gamester  loves  to  have 
his  sports,  and  he  cannot  forbear.  So  that  they  are 
become  even  captivated  slaves  to  their  flesh,  and 
their  very  wilfulness  is  become  an  impotency;  and 
what  they  would  not  do,  they  say  they  cannot.  And 
the  worldling  is  so  taken  Tip  with  earthly  things, 
that  he  hath  neither  heart,  nor  mind,  nor  time,  lor 
heavenly;  but,  as  in  Pharaoh's  dream,  Gen.  xli.  4. 
the  lean  kine  did  eat  up  the  fat  ones;  so  this  lean  and 
barren  earth  doth  eat  up  all  the  thoughts  of  heaven. 

5.  Some  are  so  carried  away  by  the  stream  of  evil 
company,  that  they  are  possessed  with  hard  thoughts 
of  a  godly  life,  by  "hearing  them  speak  against  it;  or 
at  least  they  think  they  may  venture  to  do  as  they 
see  most  do,  and  so  they  hold  on  in  their  sinful  ways; 
and  when  one  is  cut  off,  and  cast  into  hell,  and 
another  snatched  away  from  among  them  to  the 
same  condemnation, — it  doth  not  much  daunt  them, 
because  they  see  not  whither  they  are  gone.     Poor 


ISO  ■    A    CALL    TO 


wretches,  they  hold  on  in  their  ungodliness  for  all 
this;  for  they  little  know  that  their  companions  are 
now  lamenting  it  in  torments.  In  Luke  xvi.  the 
rich  man  in  hell  would  fain  have  had  one  to  warn 
his  five  brethren,  lest  they  should  come  to  that  place 
of  torment.  It  is  likely  he  knew  their  minds  and 
lives,  and  knew  that  they  were  hasting  thither,  and 
little  dreamt  that  he  was  there,  yea,  and  would  little 
have  believed  one  that  should  have  told  them  so. 
I  remember  a  passage  that  a  gentleman,  yet  living, 
told  me  he  saw  upon  a  bridge  over  the  Severn.*  A 
man  was  driving  a  flock  of  fat  lambs,  and  something 
meeting  them,  and  hindering  their  passage,  one  of 
the  lambs  leapt  upon  the  wall  of  the  bridge,  and  his 
legs  slipping  from  under  him,  he  fell  into  the  stream; 
the  rest  seeing  him,  did,  one  after  one,  leap  over  the 
bridge  into  the  stream,  and  were  all  or  almost  all 
drowned.  Those  that  were  behind  did  little  know 
what  was  become  of  them  that  were  gone  before; 
but  thought  they  might  venture  to  follow  their  com- 
panions; but  as  soon  as  ever  they  were  over  the 
wall,  and  falling  headlong,  the  case  was  altered. 
Even  so  it  is  with  unconverted  carnal  men.  One 
dieth  by  them,  and  drops  into  hell,  and  another  fol- 
lows the  same  way;  and  yet  they  will  go  after  them, 
because  they  think  not  whither  they  are  gone.  O, 
but  when  death  hath  once  opened  their  eyes,  and 
they  see  what  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  wall,  even 
in  another  world,  then  what  would  they  give  to  be 
where  they  were ! 

6.  Moreover,  they  have  a  subtle  malicious  enemy, 
that  is  unseen  of  them,  and  plays  his  game  in  the 
dark;  and  it  is  his  principal  business  to  hinder  their 
conversion;  and  therefore  to  keep  them  where  they 
are,  by  persuading  them  not  to  believe  the  Scrip- 
tures, or  not  to  trouble  their  minds  with  \\iv$v  mat- 
ters; or  by  persuading  them  to  think  ill  of  a  godly 
life,  or  to  think  that  more  is  enjoined  than  need  be, 

*Mr.  R.  Rowly,  of  Shrewsbury,  upon  Acham-B ridge. 


, 


THE   UNCONVER' 

and  that  they  may  be  saved  without  conversion,  and 
without  all  this  stir;  and  that  God  is*  so  merciful, 
that  he  will  not  damn  any  such  as  they;  or  at  least, 
that  they  may  stay  a  little  longer,  and  take  their 
pleasure,  and  follow  the  world  a  little  longer  yet, 
and  then  let  it  go,  and  repent  hereafter.  And  by 
such  juggling,  deluding  cheats  as  these,  the  devil 
keeps  the  most  in  his  captivity,  and  leadeth  them  to 
his  misery. 

These,  and  such  like  impediments  as  these,  do 
keep  so  many  thousands  unconverted,  when  God 
hath  done  so  much,  and  Christ  hath  suffered  so 
much,  and  ministers  have  said  so  much  for  their 
conversion;  when  their  reasons  are  silenced  and  they 
are  not  able  to  answer  the  Lord  that  calls  after  them, 
"  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  why  will  ye  die?"  yet  all  comes 
to  nothing  with  the  greatest  part  of  them;  and  they 
leave  us  no  more  to  do  after  all,  but  to  sit  down  and 
lament  their  wilful  misery. 

I  have  now  showed  you  the  reasonableness  of 
God's  commands,  and  the  unreasonableness  of  wick- 
ed men's  disobedience.  If  nothing  will  serve  their 
turn,  but  men  will  yet  refuse  to  turn,  we  are  next  to 
consider  who  is  in  fault  if  they  be  damned.  And 
this  brings  me  to  the  last  doctrine;  which  is, 

Doctrine  7.  That  if  after  all  this  men  will  not 
turn,  it  is  not  the  fault  of  God  that  they  are  con- 
demned, but  their  own,  even  their  own  wilfulness. 
They  die  because  they  will,  that  is,  because  they 
will  not  turn. 

If  you  will  go  to  hell,  what  remedy?  God  here 
acquits  himself  of  your  blood;  it  shall  not  lie  on  him 
if  you  be  lost.  A  negligent  minister  may  draw  it 
upon  him;  and  those  that  encourage  you  or  hinder 
you  not  in  sin,  may  draw  it  upon  them;  but  be  sure 
of  it,  it  shall  not  lie  upon  God.  Saith  the  Lord 
concerning  his  unprofitable  vineyard:  Isa.  v.  1—4. 
"  Judge,  I  pray  you3  betwixt  me  and  my  vineyard : 


132 


A    CALL    TO 


what  could  have  been  done  more  to  my  vineyard 
that  I  have  not  done  in  it  ?"  When  he  had  planted 
it  in  a  fruitful  soil,  and  fenced  it  and  gathered  out 
the  stones,  and  planted  it  with  the  choicest  vines, 
what  should  he  have  done  more  to  it?  He  hath 
made  you  men,  and  endowed  you  with  reason;  he 
hath  furnished  you  with  all  external  necessaries;  all 
creatures  are  at  your  service;  he  hath  given  you  a 
righteous  perfect  law.  When  ye  had  broken  it,  and 
undone  yourselves,  he  had  pity  on  you,  and  sent  his 
Son  by  a  miracle  of  condescending  mercy  to  die  for 
you,  and  be  a  sacrifice  for  your  sins;  and  he  was  in 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  himself! 

The  Lord  Jesus  hath  made  you  a  deed  of  gift  of 
himself,  and  eternal  life  with  him,  on  the  condition 
you  will  but  accept  it,  and  return.  He  hath  on  this 
reasonable  condition  offered  you  the  free  pardon  of 
all  your  sins!  he  hath  written  this  in  his  word,  and 
sealed  it  by  his  Spirit,  and  sent  it  by  his  ministers  : 
they  have  made  the  offer  to  you  a  hundred  and  a 
hundred  times,  and  called  you  to  accept  it,  and  to 
turn  to  God.  They  have  in  his  name  entreated  you, 
and  reasoned  the  case  with  you,  and  answered  all 
your  frivolous  objections.  He  hath  long  waited  on 
you,  and  staid  your  leisure,  and  suffered  you  to 
abuse  him  to  his  lace !  He  hath  mercifully  sustained 
you  in  the  midst  of  your  sins;  he  hath  compassed 
you  about  with  all  sorts  of  mercies;  he  hath  also 
intermixed  afflictions,  to  remind  you  of  your  folly, 
and  call  you  to  your  senses,  and  his  Spirit  has  been 
often  striving  with  your  hearts,  and  saying  there, 
*  Turn,  sinner,  turn  to  him  that  calleth  thee:  Whith- 
er art  thou  going?  What  art  thou  doing?  Dost 
thou  know  what  will  be  the  end?  How  long  wilt 
thou  hate  thy  friends,  and  love  thine  enemies? 
When  wilt  thou  let  go  all,  and  turn  and  deliver  thy- 
self to  God,  and  give  thy  Redeemer  the  possession 
of  thy  soul?  When  shall  it  once  be?5  These  plead- 
ings have  been  used  with  thee,  and  when  thou  hast 
delayed,  thou  hast  been  urged  to  make  haste,  and 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  133 

God  hath  called  to  thee,  "  To-day,  while  it  is  called 
to-day,  harden  not  thy  heart:"  Why  not  now, 
without  any  more  delay?  Life  hath  been  set  be- 
fore you;  the  joys  of  heaven  have  been  opened  to 
you  in  the  gospel;  the  certainty  of  them  hath  been 
manifested;  the  certainty  of  the  everlasting  torments 
of  the  damned  hath  been  declared  to  you;  unless 
you  would  have  had  a  sight  of  heaven  and  hell, 
what  could  you  desire  more?  Christ  hath  been,  as 
it  were,  set  forth  crucified  before  your  eyes,  Gal.  iii. 
1.  You  have  been  a  hundred  times  told  that  you 
are  but  lost  men  till  you  come  unto  him;  as  oft  you 
have  been  told  of  the  evil  of  sin,  of  the  vanity  of  sin, 
the  world,  and  all  the  pleasures  and  wealth  it  can 
afford;  of  the  shortness  and  uncertainty  of  your 
lives,  and  the  endless  duration  of  the  joy  or  torment 
of  the  life  to  come.  All  this,  and  more  than  this 
have  you  been  told,  and  told  again,  even  till  you 
were  weary  of  hearing  it,  and  till  you  could  make 
the  lighter  of  it,  because  you  had  so  often  heard  it, 
like  the  smith's  dog,  that  is  brought  by  custom  to 
sleep  under  the  noise  of  the  hammers  and  when  the 
sparks  fly  about  his  ears;  and  though  all  this  have 
not  converted  you,  yet  you  are  alive,  and  might 
have  mercy  to  this  day,  if  you  had  but  hearts  to 
entertain  it.  And  now  let  reason  itself  be  the  judge, 
whether  it  be  the  fault  of  God  or  yours,  if  after  this 
you  will  be  unconverted  and  be  damned.  If  you 
die  now,  it  is  because  you  will  die.  What  should 
be  said  more  to  you,  or  what  course  should  be  taken 
that  is  more  likely  to  prevail?  Are  you  able  to  say, 
and  make  it  good,  'We  would  fain  have  been  con- 
verted and  become  new  creatures,  but  we  could  not ; 
we  would  fain  have  forsaken  our  sins,  but  we  could 
not;  we  would  have  changed  our  company,  and  our 
thoughts,  and  our  discourse,  but  we  could  not.' 
Why  could  you  not,  if  you  would  ?  What  hindered 
you  but  the  wickedness  of  your  hearts?  Who  forc- 
ed you  to  sin,  or  who  held  you  back  from  duty? 
Had  not  you  the  same  teaching,  and  time,  and  lib- 


134 


A    CALL    TO 


erty  to  be  godly,  as  your  godly  neighbours  had? 
Why  then  could  not  you  have  been  godly  as  well  as 
they?  Were  the  church  doors  shut  against  you,  or 
did  you  not  keep  away  yourselves,  or  sit  and  sleep, 
or  hear  as  if  you  did  not  hear?  Did  God  put  in 
any  exceptions  against  you  in  his  word,  when  he 
invited  sinners  to  return;  and  when  he  promised 
mercy  to  those  that  do  return?  Did  he  say,  '  I  will 
pardon  all  that  repent  except  thee?'  Did  he  shut 
thee  out  from  the  liberty  of  his  holy  worship?  Did 
he  forbid  you  to  pray  to  him  any  more  than  others? 
You  know  he  did  not.  God  did  not  drive  you  away 
from  him,  but  you  forsook  him,  and  ran  away  your- 
selves, and  when  he  called  you  to  liim,  you  would 
not  come.  If  God  had  excepted  you  out  of  the 
general  promise  and  offer  of  mercy,  or  had  said  to 
you,  c  Stand  off*,  I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  such 
as  you;  pray  not  to  me,  for  I  will  not  hear  you;  if 
you  repent  never  so  much,  and  cry  for  mercy  never 
so  much,  I  will  not  regard  you.'  If  God  had  left 
you  nothing  to  trust  to  but  desperation,  then  you 
had  had  a  fair  excuse;  you  might  have  said,  *  To 
what  end  do  I  repent  and  turn,  when  it  will  do  no 
good?'  But  this  was  not  your  case:  you  might  have 
had  Christ  to  be  your  Lord  and  Saviour,  your  head 
and  husband,  as  well  as  others,  and  you  would  not, 
because  you  felt  yourselves  not  sick  enough  for  the 
physician:  and  because  you  could  not  spare  your  dis- 
ease. In  your  hearts  you  said  as  those  rebels,  Luke 
xix.  1 4.  "  We  will  not  have  this  man  to  reign  over 
us."  Christ  would  have  gathered  you  under  the 
wings  of  his  salvation,  and  you  would  not.  Matt, 
xxiii.  37.  What  desires  of  your  welfare  did  the 
Lord  express  in  his  holy  word  ?  With  what  com- 
passion did  he  stand  over  you,  and  say,  "  O  that  my 
j)eopie  had  hearkened  unto  me,  and  that  they  had 
walked  in  my  ways!"  Psalm  xvii.  13.  lxxvi.  13.  "  O 
that  there  were  such  a  heart  in  this  people,  that  they 
would  fear  me,  and  keep  all  my  commandments  al- 
ways; that  it  might  be  well  with  them  and  with 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  135 

their  children  for  ever !"  Deut.  v.  29.  "  O  that  they 
were  wise,  that  they  understood  this,  that  they 
would  consider  their  latter  end  I"  Deut.  xxxii.  29. 
He  would  have  been  your  God,  and  done  all  for  you 
that  your  souls  could  well  desire:  but  you  loved  the 
world  and  your  flesh  above  him,  and  therefore  you 
would  not  hearken  to  him:  though  you  compliment- 
ed him,  and  gave  him  high  titles;  yet  when  it  came 
to  the  closing,  you  would  have  none  of  him.  Psalm 
Jxxxi.  11,  12.  No  marvel  then  if  he  gave  you  up 
to  your  own  hearts'  lusts,  and  you  walked  in  your 
own  counsels.  He  condescends  to  reason,  and  pleads 
the  case  with  you,  and  asks  you,  '  What  is  there  in 
me,  or  my  service,  that  you  should  be  so  much 
against  me?  What  harm  have  I  done  thee,  sinner? 
Have  I  deserved  this  unkind  dealing  at  thy  hand? 
Many  mercies  have  I  showed  thee:  for  which  of 
them  dost  thou  thus  despise  me  ?  Is  it  I,  or  is  it  Satan, 
that  is  thy  enemy?  Is  it  I,  or  is  it  thy  carnal  self 
that  would  undo  thee?  Is  it  a  holy  life,  or  a  life  of 
sin  that  thou  hast  cause  to  fly  from?  If  thou  be 
undone,  thou  procurest  this  to  thyself,  by  forsaking 
me,  the  Lord  that  would  have  saved  thee.5  Jer.  ii. 
7.  "  Doth  not  thy  own  wickedness  correct  thee, 
and  thy  sin  reprove  thee?  Thou  mayst  see  that 
it  is  an  evil  and  bitter  thing  that  thou  hast  forsaken 
me."  Jer.  ii.  19.  "  What  iniquity  have  you  found 
in  me  that  you  have  followed  after  vanity,  and  for- 
saken me?"  Jer.  ii.  5,6.  He  calleth  out,  as  it 
were,  to  the  brutes,  to  hear  the  controversy  he  hath 
against  you.  Mic.  ii.  3—5.  "  Hear,  O  ye  mountains, 
the  Lord's  controversy,  and  ye  strong  foundations 
of  the  earth;  for  the  Lord  hath  a  controversy  with 
his  people,  and  he  will  plead  with  Israel.  O  my 
people,  what  have  I  done  unto  thee,  and  wherein 
have  1  wearied  thee?  testify  against  me,  for  I 
brought  thee  up  out  of  Egypt,  and  redeemed  thee." 
"  Hear,  O  heavens,  and  give  ear,  O  earth,  for  the 
Lord  hath  spoken.  I  have  nourished  and  brought 
up  children,  and  they  have  rebelled  against  me. 


136  A    CALL    TO 

The  ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's 
crib;  but  Israel  doth  not  know,  my  people  doth  not 
consider !  Ah  sinful  nation,  a  people  laden  with  in- 
iquity, a  seed  of  evil  doers ! "  &c.  Is.  i.  2-4.  "  Do 
you  thus  requite  the  Lord,  O  foolish  people,  and 
unwise?  Is  not  he  thy  Father  that  bought  thee? 
Hath  he  not  made  thee,  and  established  thee?" 
Deut.  xxxii.  6.  When  he  saw  that  you  forsook 
him,  even  for  nothing,  and  turned  away  from  your 
Lord  and  life,  to  hunt  after  the  chaff  and  feathers 
of  the  world,  he  told  you  of  your  folly,  and  called 
you  to  a  more  profitable  employment,  Isa.  lv.  1—3. 
"  Wherefore  do  ye  spend  your  money  for  that  which 
is  not  bread,  and  your  labour  for  that  which  satis- 
fieth  not?  Hearken  diligently  unto  me,  and  eat  ye 
that  which  is  good,  and  let  your  soul  delight  itself 
in  fatness.  Incline  your  ear,  and  come  unto  me; 
hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live;  and  I  will  make  an 
everlasting  covenant  with  you,  even  the  sure  mer- 
cies of  David.  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be 
found :  call  ye  upon  him  while  he  is  near.  Let  the 
wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man 
his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and 
he  will  have  mercy  upon  him;  and  to  our  God,  for 
he  will  abundantly  pardon,"  and  so  Isa.  i.  16—18. 
And  when  you  would  not  hear,  what  complaints 
have  you  put  him  to,  charging  it  on  you  as  your 
wilfulness  and  stubbornness.  Jer.  ii.  12,  13.  "Be  as- 
tonished, O  heavens,  at  this,  and  be  horribly  afraid; 
for  my  people  have  committed  two  evils;  they  have 
forsaken  me,  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  and 
hewed  them  out  cisterns,  broken  cisterns,  that  can 
hold  no  water."  Many  a  time  hath  Christ  proclaim- 
ed that  free  invitation  to  you,  Rev.  xxii.  17.  "  Let 
him  that  is  athirst  come,  and  whosoever  will,  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  But  you  put 
him  to  complain,  after  all  his  offers;  "  They  will  not 
come  to  me,  that  they  may  have  lite."  John  v.  40. 
He  hath  invited  you  to  feast  with  him  in  the  king- 
dom of  his  grace,  and  you  have  had  excuses  from 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  137 

your  grounds,  and  your  cattle,  and  your  worldly 
business;  and  when  you  would  not  come,  you  have 
said  you  could  not;  and  provoked  him  to  resolve 
that  you  should  never  taste  of  his  supper,  Luke  xiv. 
1 6 — 25.  And  who  is  it  the  fault  of  now  hut  your- 
selves? and  what  can  you  say  is  the  chief  cause  of 
your  damnation  but  your  own  wills?  you  would  be 
damned.  The  whole  case  is  laid  open  by  Christ 
himself,  Prov.  i.  20—33.  "  Wisdom  crieth  without, 
she  uttereth  her  voice  in  the  streets;  she  crieth  in 
the  chief  place  of  the  concourse, — How  long,  ye 
simple  ones,  will  ye  love  simplicity,  and  the  scorners 
delight  in  their  scorning,  and  fools  hate  knowledge  ? 
Turn  ye  at  my  reproof.  Behold,  I  will  pour  out  my 
Spirit  upon  you,  I  will  make  known  my  words  unto 
you.  Because  I  have  called,  and  ye  refused.  I  have 
stretched  out  my  hands  and  no  man  regarded;  but 
ye  have  set  at  naught  all  my  counsels,  and  would 
none  of  my  reproofs.  I  also  will  laugh  at  your  ca- 
lamity, I  will  mock  when  your  fear  cometh:  when 
your  fear  cometh  as  desolation,  and  your  destruction 
cometh  as  a  whirlwind;  when  distress  and  anguish 
cometh  upon  you,  then  shall  they  call  upon  me,  but 
I  will  not  answer;  they  shall  seek  me  early,  but  they 
shall  not  find  me;  for  that  they  hated  knowledge, 
and  did  not  choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  They 
would  none  of  my  counsels :  they  despised  all  my  re- 
proof; therefore,  shall  they  eat  of  the  fruit  of  theii 
own  way,  and  be  filled  with  their  own  devices.  For 
the  turning  away  of  the  simple  shall  slay  them,  and 
the  prosperity  of  fools  shall  destroy  them.  But  who- 
so hearkeneth  to  me  shall  dwell  safely,  and  shall  be 
quiet  from  the  fear  of  evil."  I  thought  best  to  re- 
cite the  whole  text  at  large  to  you,  because  it  doth 
so  fully  show  the  cause  of  the  destruction  of  the 
wicked.  It  is  not  because  God  would  not  teach 
them,  but  because  they  would  not  learn.  It  is  not 
because  God  would  not  call  them,  but  because  they 
would  not  turn  at  his  reproof.  Their  wilfulness  is 
their  undoing. 

12 


138  A   CALL    TO 

Use. — From  what  hath  been  said,  you  may  fur- 
ther learn  these  following  things : 

1.  From  hence  you  may  see,  not  only  what  blas- 
phemy and  impiety  it  is  to  lay  the  blame  of  men's 
destruction  upon  God;  but  also  how  unfit  these 
wicked  wretches  are  to  bring  in  such  a  charge 
against  their  Maker!  They  cry  out  upon  God,  and 
say  he  gives  them  not  grace,  and  his  threatenings 
are  severe,  and  God  forbid  that  all  should  be  con- 
demned that  be  not  converted  and  sanctified;  and 
they  think  it  hard  measure  that  a  short  sin  should 
have  an  endless  suffering;  and  if  they  be  damned, 
they  say  they  cannot  help  it,  when  in  the  mean  time 
they  are  busy  about  their  own  destruction,  even  the 
destruction  of  their  own  souls,  and  will  not  be  per- 
suaded to  hold  their  hands.  They  think  God  were 
cruel,  if  he  should  condemn  them;  and  yet  they 
are  so  cruel  to  themselves,  that  they  will  run  into 
the  fire  of  hell,  when  God  hath  told  them  it  is  a  lit- 
tle before  them;  and  neither  entreaties,  nor  threat- 
enings, nor  any  thing  that  can  be  said,  will  stop 
them.  We  see  them  almost  undone;  their  careless, 
worldly,  fleshly  lives  tell  us  that  they  are  in  the 
power  of  the  devil;  we  know,  if  they  die  before  they 
are  converted,  all  the  world  cannot  save  them;  and 
knowing  the  uncertainty  of  their  lives,  we  are  afraid 
every  day  lest  they  drop  into  the  fire:  and  therefore 
we  entreat  them  to  pity  their  own  souls,  and  not.  to 
undo  themselves  when  mercy  is  at  hand;  and  they 
will  not  hear  us.  We  entreat  them  to  cast  away 
their  sin,  and  come  to  Christ  without  delay,  and  to 
have  some  mercy  on  themselves,  but  they  will  have 
none;  and  yet  they  think  that  God  must  be  cruel  if 
he  condemn  them.  O  wilful  miserable  sinners !  it  is 
not  God  that  is  cruel  to  you,  it  is  you  that  are  cruel 
to  yourselves;  you  are  told  you  must  turn  or  burn, 
and  yet  you  turn  not.  You  are  told  that  if  you  will 
needs  keep  your  sins,  you  shall  keep  the  curse  of 
God  with  them;  and  yet  you  will  keep  them.  You 
are  told  that  there  is  no  way  to  happiness  but  by 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  139 

holiness;  and  yet  you  will  not  be  holy.  What 
would  you  have  God  say  more  to  you?  What 
would  you  have  him  do  with  his  mercy?  He 
onereth  it  to  you,  and  you  will  not  have  it.  You 
are  in  the  ditch  of  sin  and  misery,  and  he  would 
give  you  his  hand  to  help  you  out,  and  you  refuse 
his  help;  he  would  cleanse  you  of  your  sins,  and  you 
had  rather  keep  them;  you  love  your  lust,  and  love 
your  gluttony  and  sports,  and  drunkenness,  and  will 
not  let  them  go;  would  you  have  him  bring  you  to 
heaven  whether  you  will  or  not?  Or  would  you 
have  him  bring  you  and  your  sins  to  heaven  togeth- 
er? Why  that  is  an  impossibility;  you  may  as  well 
expect  he  should  turn  the  sun  into  darkness.  What ! 
an  unsanctified  fleshly  heart  be  in  heaven?  it  cannot 
be.  There  entereth  nothing  that  is  unclean.  Rev. 
xxi.  17.  "For  what  communion  hath  light  with 
darkness,  or  Christ  with  Belial? "  2  Cor.  vi.  14,  15. 
"All  the  day  long  hath  he  stretched  out  his  hands 
to  a  disobedient  and  gainsaying  people."  Rom.  x. 
21.  What  wTill  you  do  now?  Will  you  cry  to  God 
for  mercy?  Why,  God  calleth  upon  you  to  have 
mercy  upon  yourselves,  and  you  will  not !  Minis- 
ters see  the  poisoned  cup  in  the  drunkard's  hand, 
and  tell  him  there  is  poison  in  it,  and  desire  him  to 
have  mercy  on  his  soul,  and  forbear,  and  he  will  not 
hear  us!  Drink  it  he  must  and  will;  he  loves  it, 
and  therefore,  though  hell  comes  next,  he  saith  he 
cannot  help  it.  What  should  one  say  to  such  men 
as  these?  We  tell  the  ungodly  careless  worldling, 
it  is  not  such  a  lite  that  will  serve  the  turn,  or  ever 
bring  you  to  heaven.  If  a  bear  were  at  your  back, 
you  would  mend  your  pace;  and  when  the  curse  of 
God  is  at  your  back,  and  Satan  and  hell  are  at  your 
back,  will  you  not  stir,  but  ask,  What  needs  all  this 
ado?  Is  an  immortal  soul  of  no  more  worth?  O 
have  mercy  upon  yourselves!  But  they  will  have 
no  mercy  on  themselves,  nor  once  regard  us.  We 
tell  them  the  end  will  be  bitter.  Who  can  dwell 
with  the  everlasting  fire?    And  yet  they  will  have 


140  A    CALL    TO 

no  mercy  on  themselves.  And  yet  will  these  shame- 
less transgressors  say,  that  God  is  more  merciful  than 
to  condemn  them;  when  it  is  themselves  that  cruelly 
and  unmercifully  run  upon  condemnation;  and  if  we 
should  go  to  them,  and  entreat  them,  we  cannot  stop 
them;  if  we  should  fall  on  our  knees  to  them,  we 
cannot  stop  them,  but  to  hell  they  will  go,  and  yet 
will  not  believe  that  they  are  going  thither.  If  we 
beg  of  them  for  the  sake  of  God  that  made  them, 
and  preserveth  them;  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  that 
died  for  them;  for  the  sake  of  their  own  souls,  to 
pity  themselves,  and  go  no  further  in  the  way  to 
hell,  but  come  to  Christ  while  his  arms  are  open, 
and  enter  into  the  stats  of  life  while  the  door  stands 
open,  and  now  take  mercy  while  mercy  may  be  had, 
they  will  not  be  persuaded.  If  we  should  die  for  it, 
we  cannot  so  much  as  get  them  now  and  then  to 
consider  with  themselves  of  the  matter,  and  to  turn: 
and  yet  they  can  say,  i  I  hope  God  will  be  merciful.' 
Did  you  never  consider  what  he  saith,  Isa.  xxvii.  1 1 . 
"  It  is  a  people  of  no  understanding;  therefore,  he 
that  made  them  will  not  have  mercy  on  them,  and 
lie  that  formed  them  will  show  them  no  favour." 
If  another  man  will  not  clothe  you  when  you  are 
naked,  and  feed  you  when  you  are  hungry,  you  will 
say  he  is  unmerciful.  If  he  should  cast  you  into 
prison,  or  beat  and  torment  you,  you  would  say  he 
is  unmerciful;  and  yet  you  will  do  a  thousand  times 
more  against  yourselves,  even  cast  away  both  soul 
and  body  for  ever,  and  never  complain  of  your 
own  unmerci fulness!  Yea,  and  God  that  waited 
upon  you  all  the  while  with  his  mercy,  must  be  ta- 
ken to  be  unmerciful,  if  he  punish  you  after  all  this. 
Unless  the  holy  God  of  heaven  will  give  these 
wretches  leave  to  trample  upon  his  Son's  blood, 
and  with  the  Jews,  as  it  were,  again  to  spit  in  his 
face,  and  do  despite  to  the  spirit  of  grace,  and  make 
a  jest  of  sin,  and  a  mock  at  holiness,  and  set  more 
light  by  saving  mercy  than  by  the  filth  of  their  flesh- 
ly pleasures;  and  unless,  after  all  this,  he  will  save 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  141 

them  by  the  mercy  which  they  cast  away  and  would 
have  none  of,  God  himself  must  be  called  unmerci- 
ful by  them !  But  he  will  be  justified  when  he  judg- 
eth,  and  he  will  not  stand  or  fall  at  the  bar  of  a  sin- 
ful worm. 

I  know  there  are  many  particular  cavils  that  are 
brought  by  them  against  the  Lord;  but  I  shall  not 
here  stay  to  answer  them  particularly,  having  done 
it  already  in  my  Treatise  of  Judgment ,  to  which  1 
shall  refer  them.  Had  the  disputing  part  of  the 
world  been  as  careful  to  avoid  sin  and  destruction, 
as  they  have  been  busy  in  searching  after  the  cause 
of  them,  and  forward  indirectly  to  impute  it  to  God, 
they  might  have  exercised  their  wits  more  profitably, 
and  have  less  wronged  God,  and  sped  better  them- 
selves. When  so  ugly  a  monster  as  sin  is  within 
us,  and  so  heavy  a  thing  as  punishment  is  on  us, 
and  so  dreadful  a  thing  as  hell  is  before  us,  one 
would  think  it  should  be  an  easy  question,  who  is  in 
the  fault,  whether  God  or  man  be  the  principal 
or  culpable  cause?  Some  men  are  such  favourable 
judges  of  themselves,  that  they  are  more  prone  to 
accuse  the  infinite  perfection  and  goodness  itself,  than 
their  own  hearts,  and  imitate  their  first  parents,  that 
said,  "The  serpent  tempted  me;  and  the  woman 
that  thou  gavest  me  gave  unto  me,  and  I  did  eat;" 
secretly  implying  that  God  was  the  cause.  So  say 
they,  "  The  understanding  that  thou  gavest  me  was 
unable  to  discern;  the  will  that  thou  gavest  me  was 
unable  to  make  a  better  choice;  the  objects  which 
thou  didst  set  before  me  did  entice  me;  the  tempta- 
tions which  thou  didst  permit  to  assault  me  prevailed 
against  me."  And  some  are  so  loth  to  think  that 
God  can  make  a  self-determining  creature,  that  they 
dare  not  deny  him  that  which  they  take  to  be  his 
prerogative,  to  be  the  determiner  of  the  will  in  every 
sin,  as  the  first  efficient  immediate  physical  cause; 
and  many  could  be  content  to  acquit  God  from  so 
much  causing  of  evil,  if  they  could  but  reconcile  it 
with  his  being  the  chief  cause  of  good,  as  if  truths 


142  A    CALL    TO 

would  be  no  longer  truths  than  we  are  able  to  see 
them  in  their  perfect  order  and  coherence:  because 
our  ravelled  wits  cannot  see  them  right  together,  nor 
assign  each  truth  its  proper  place,  we  presume  to 
conclude  that  some  must  be  cast  away.  This  is 
the  fruit  of  proud  self-conceitedness,  when  men  re- 
ceive not  God's  truth  as  a  child  his  lesson,  in  holy- 
submission  to  the  omniscience  of  our  Teacher,  but 
censurers,  that  are  too  wise  to  learn. 

Object.  But  we  cannot  convert  ourselves  till  God 
convert  us;  we  can  do  nothing  without  his  grace;  it 
is  not  in  him  that  willeth,  nor  in  him  that  runneth, 
but  in  God  that  showeth  mercy. 

Answ.  1.  God  hath  two  degrees  of  mercy  to 
show;  the  mercy  of  conversion  first,  and  the  mercy 
of  salvation  last;  the  latter  he  will  give  to  none 
but  those  that  will  and  run,  and  hath  promised  it 
to  them  only.  The  former  is  to  make  them  willing 
that  are  unwilling;  and  though  your  own  willing- 
ness and  endeavours  deserve  not  his  grace,  yet^our 
wilful  refusal  deserveth  that  it  should  be  denied  to 
you.  Your  disability  is  your  very  unwillingness  it- 
self, which  excuseth  not  your  sin,  but  maketh  it 
the  greater.  You  could  turn  if  you  were  but  truly 
willing;  and  if  your  wTills  themselves  are  so  corrupt- 
ed, that  nothing  but  effectual  grace  will  move  them, 
you  have  the  more  cause  to  seek  for  that  grace,  and 
yield  to  it,  and  do  what  you  can  in  the  use  of  means, 
and  not  neglect  it,  and  set  against  it.  Do  what  you 
are  able  first,  and  then  complain  of  God  for  denying 
you  grace,  if  you  have  cause. 

Object.  But  you  seem  to  intimate  all  this  while 
that  man  hath  free-will. 

JLnsw.  1.  The  dispute  about  free-will  is  beyond 
your  capacity;  I  shall  therefore  now  trouble  you  with 
no  more  but  this  about  it.  Your  will  is  naturally  a 
free,  that  is,  a  self-determining  faculty;  but  it  is  vi- 
ciously inclined,  arid  backward  to  do  good :  and  there- 
fore we  see,  by  sad  experience,  that  it  hath  not  a 
virtuous  moral  freedom:  but  that  it  is  the  wickedness 


THE    I ^CONVERTED.  143 

of  it  which  deserveth  the  punishment;  and  I  pray  you, 
let  us  not  befool  ourselves  with  opinions.  Let  the 
case  be  your  own.  If  you  had  an  enemy  that  was 
so  malicious,  as  to  fall  upon  you  and  beat  you,  or 
take  away  the  lives  of  your  children,  would  you 
excuse  him,  because  he  said,  I  have  not  free-will,  it 
is  my  nature;  I  cannot  choose  unless  God  give  me 
grace?  If  \^ou  had  a  servant  that  robbed  you,  would 
you  take  such  an  answer  from  him?  Might  not 
every  thief  and  murderer  that  is  hanged  at  the  assize 
give  such  an  answer:  I  have  not  free-will;  I  cannot 
change  my  own  heart;  what  can  I  do  without  God's 
grace?  and  shall  they  therefore  be  acquitted?  If 
not,  why  then  should  you  think  to  be  acquitted  for 
a  course  of  sin  against  the  Lord? 

2.  From  hence  also  you  may  observe  these  three 
things  together: — 1.  What  a  subtle  tempter  Satan 
is.  2.  What  a  deceitful  thing  sin  is.  3.  What  a 
foolish  creature  corrupted  man  is.  A  subtle  tempter 
indeed,  that  can  persuade  the  greatest  part  of  the 
world  to  go  into  everlasting  fire,  when  they  have  so 
many  warnings  and  dissuasives  as  they  have !  A  de- 
ceitful thing  is  sin  indeed,  that  can  bewitch  so  many 
thousands  to  part  with  everlasting  life,  for  a  thing  so 
base  and  utterly  unworthy !  A  foolish  creature  is 
man  indeed,  that  will  be  cheated  of  his  salvation  for 
nothing,  yea,  for  a  known  nothing;  and  that  by  an 
enemy,  and  a  known  enemy.  You  would  think  it 
impossible  that  any  man  in  his  wits  should  be  per- 
suaded for  a  little  to  cast  himself  into  the  fire,  or 
water,  or  into  a  coal-pit,  to  the  destruction  of  his 
life;  and  yet  men  will  be  enticed  to  cast  themselves 
into  hell.  If  your  natural  lives  were  in  your  own 
hands,  that  you  should  not  die  till  you  would  kill 
yourselves,  how  long  would  most  of  you  live?  And 
yet  when  your  everlasting  life  is  so  far  in  your  own 
hands  under  God,  that  you  cannot  be  undone  till 
you  undo  yourselves,  how  few  of  you  will  forbear 
your  own  undoing !  Ah,  what  a  silly  thing  is  man ! 
and  what  a  bewitching. and  befooling  thing  is  sin. 


144 


A    CALL    TO 


3.  From  hence  also  you  may  learn,  that  it  is  no 
great  wonder  if  wicked  men  be  hinderers  of  others 
in  the  way  to  heaven,  and  would  have  as  many  un- 
converted as  they  can,  and  would  draw  them  into 
sin,  and  keep  them  in  it.  Can  you  expect  that  they 
should  have  mercy  on  others,  that  have  none  upon 
themselves?  and  that  they  should  hesitate  much  at 
the  destruction  of  others,  that  hesitate  not  to  destroy 
themselves?  They  do  no  worse  by  others  than 
they  do  by  themselves. 

4.  Lastly,  You  may  hence  learn  that  the  greatest 
enemy  to  man  is  himself;  and  the  greatest  judgment 
in  this  lite  that  can  befall  him,  is  to  be  left  to  himself; 
that  the  great  work  that  grace  hath  to  do,  is  to  save 
us  from  ourselves;  that  the  greatest  accusations  and 
complaints  of  men  should  be  against  themselves; 
that  the  greatest  work  that  we  have  to  do  ourselves, 
is  to  resist  ourselves;  and  the  greatest  enemy  that  we 
should  daily  pray,  and  watch,  and  strive  against,  is 
our  own  carnal  hearts  and  wills;  and  the  greatest 
part  of  your  work,  if  you  would  do  good  to  others, 
and  help  them  to  heaven,  is  to  save  them  from  them- 
selves, even  from  their  blind  understandings  and  cor- 
rupted wills,  and  perverse  affections,  and  violent  pas- 
sions, and  unruly  senses.  I  only  name  all  these  tor 
brevity's  sake,  and  leave  them  to  your  further  con- 
sideration. 

Well,  sirs,  now  we  have  found  out  the  great  de- 
linquent and  murderer  of  souls  (even  men's  selves, 
their  own  wills,)  what  remains  but  that  you  judge 
according  to  the  evidence,  and  confess  this  great  in- 
iquity before  the  Lord,  and  be  humbled  for  it,  and  do 
so  no  more?  To  these  three  ends  distinctly,  I  shall 
add  a  few  words  more.  1.  Further  to  convince 
you.  2.  To  humble  you.  And,  S.  To  reform 
you,  if  there  yet  be  any  hope. 

1.  We  know  so  much  of  the  exceeding  gracious 
nature  of  God,  who  is  willing  to  do  good,  and  de- 
lighteth  to  show  mercy,  that  we  have  no  reason  to 
suspect  him  of  being  the  culpable  cause  of  our  death, 


THE   UNCONVERTED  145 

or  to  call  him  cruel;  he  made  all  good,  and  he  pre- 
served! and  maintaineth  all;  the  eyes  of  all  wait  up- 
on him,  and  he  giveth  them  their  meat  in  due  season; 
he  openeth  his  hand,  and  satisfieth  the  desires  of  all 
the  living.  Psalm  cxlv.  15,  16.  He  is  not  only 
righteous  in  all  his  ways,  and  therefore  will  deal  just- 
ly; and  holy  in  all  his  works,  and  therefore  not  the 
author  of  sin;  but  he  is  also  good  to  all,  and  his  tender 
mercies  are  over  all  his  works.     Psalm  cxlv.  17,  19. 

But  as  for  man,  we  know  his  mind  is  dark,  his 
will  perverse,  and  his  affections  carry  him  so  head- 
long, that  he  is  fitted  by  his  folly  and  corruption  to 
such  a  work  as  the  destroying  of  himself.  If  you 
saw  a  lamb  lie  killed  in  the  way,  would  you  sooner 
suspect  the  sheep,  or  the  dog,  or  the  wolf,  to  be  the 
author  of  it,  if  they  both  stand  by?  Or  if  you  see 
a  house  broken  open  and  the  people  murdered,  would 
you  sooner  suspect  the  prince  or  judge,  that  is  wise 
and  just,  and  had  no  need,  or  a  known  thief  or  mur- 
derer? I  say  therefore,  as  James  i.  13 — 15,  "Let  no 
man  say,  when  he  is  tempted,  that  he  is  tempted  of 
God,  for  God  cannot  be  tempted  with  evil,  neither 
tempteth  he  any  man,  to  draw  him  to  sin;  but  every 
man  is  tempted,  when  he  is  drawn  away  of  his  own 
lust,  and  enticed.  Then  when  lust  hath  conceived, 
it  bringeth  forth  sin;  and  sin,  when  it  is  finished, 
bringeth  forth  death."  You  see  here  that  sin  is  the 
offspring  of  your  own  concupiscence,  and  not  to  be 
charged  on  God ;  and  that  death  is  the  offspring  of 
your  own  sin,  and  the  fruit  which  it  will  yield  you 
as  soon  as  it  is  ripe.  You  have  a  treasure  of  evil  in 
yourselves,  as  a  spider  hath  of  poison,  from  whence 
you  are  bringing  forth  hurt  to  yourselves,  and  spin- 
ning such  webs  as  entangle  your  own  souls.  Your 
nature  shows  it  is  you  that  are  the  cause. 

2.  It  is  evident  that  you  are  your  own  destroyers, 
in  that  you  are  so  ready  to  entertain  any  temptation 
almost  that  is  offered  you.  Satan  is  scarcely  more 
ready  to  move  you  to  any  evil,  than  you  are  ready 
to  hear,  and  to  do  as  he  would  have  you.  If  he 
13 


146  A    CALL    TO 

would  tempt  your  understanding  to  error  and  preju- 
dice, you  yield.  If  he  would  hinder  you  from  good 
resolutions,  it  is  soon  done.  If  he  would  cool  any 
good  desires  or  affections,  it  is  soon  done.  If  he 
would  kindle  any  lust,  or  vile  affections  and  desires 
in  you,  it  is  soon  done.  If  he  will  put  you  on  to 
evil  thoughts,  or  deeds,  you  are  so  free,  that  he 
needs  no  rod  or  spur.  If  he  would  keep  you  from 
holy  thoughts,  and  words,  and  ways,  a  little  doth  it, 
you  need  no  curb.  You  examine  not  his  sugges- 
tions, nor  resist  them  with  any  resolution,  nor  cast 
them  out  as  he  casts  them  in,  nor  quench  the  sparks 
which  he  endeavoureth  to  kindle;  but  you  set  in 
with  him,  and  meet  him  halfway,  and  embrace  his 
motions,  and  tempt  him  to  tempt  you.  And  it  is 
easy  to  catch  such  greedy  fish  that  are  ranging  for  a 
bait,  and  will  take  the  bare  hook. 

3.  Your  destruction  is  evidently  of  yourselves,  in 
that  you  resist  all  that  would  help  to  save  you,  and 
would  do  you  good,  or  hinder  you  from  undoing 
yourselves.  God  would  help  and  save  you  by  his 
word,  and  you  resist  it,  it  is  too  strict  for  you.  He 
would  sanctify  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  you  resist  and 
quench  it.  If  any  man  reprove  you  for  your  sin, 
you  fly  in  his  face  with  evil  words:  and  it'  he  would 
draw  you  to  a  holy  life,  and  tell  you  of  your  present 
danger,  you  give  him  little  thanks,  but  either  bid 
him  look  to  himself,  he  shall  not  answer  for  you;  or 
else,  at  best,  you  put  him  off  with  heartless  thanks, 
and  wil\  not  turn  when  you  are  persuaded.  If  min- 
isters would  privately  instruct  and  help  you,  you  will 
not  come  to  them;  your  unhumbled  souls  reel  but 
little  need  of  their  help;  if  they  would  catechise  you, 
you  are  too  old  to  be  catechised,  though  you  are  not 
too  old  to  be  ignorant  and  unholy.  Whatever  they 
can  say  to  you  for  your  good,  you  are  so  sell-conceit- 
ed and  wise  in  your  own  eyes,  even  in  the  depth  of 
ignorance,  that  you  will  regard  nothing  that  agreeth 
not  with  your  present  conceits,  but  contradict  your 
teachers,  as  if  you  were  wiser  than  they;  you  resist 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  147 

all  that  they  can  say  to  you  by  your  ignorance,  and 
wilfulness,  and  foolish  cavils,  and  shifting  evasions, 
and  unthankful  rejections,  so-  that  no  good  that  is 
offered  can  find  any  welcome  acceptance  and  enter- 
tainment with  you. 

4.  Moreover,  it  is  apparent  that  you  are  self-des- 
troyers, in  that  you  "draw  the  matter  of  your  sin 
and  destruction  even  from  the  blessed  God  himself." 
You  like  not  the  contrivances  of  his  wisdom;  you 
like  not  his  justice,  but  take  it  for  cruelty;  you  like 
not  his  holiness,  but  are  ready  to  think  he  is  such 
an  one  as  yourselves,  Psalm  1.  21.  and  makes  as 
light  of  sin  as  you;  you  like  not  his  truth,  but  would 
have  his  threatenings,  even  his  peremptory  threat- 
enings,  prove  false;  and  his  goodness,  which  you 
seem  most  highly  to  approve,  you  partly  resist,  as  it 
would  lead  you  to  repentance;  and  partly  abuse,  to 
the  strengthening  of  your  sin,  as  if  you  might  more 
freely  sin  because  God  is  merciful,  and  because  his 
grace  doth  so  much  abound. 

5.  Yea,  you  fetch  destruction  from  the  blessed 
Redeemer,  and  death  from  the  Lord  of  life  himself! 
and  nothing  more  emboldeneth  you  in  sin,  than  that 
Christ  hath  died  for  you;  as  if  now  the  danger  of 
death  were  over,  and  you  might  boldly  venture;  as 
if  Christ  were  become  a  servant  to  Satan  and  your 
sins,  and  must  wait  upon  you  while  you  are  abusing 
him;  and  because  he  is  become  the  Physician  of 
souls,  and  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that 
come  to  God  by  him,  you  think  he  must  suffer  you 
to  refuse  his  help,  and  throw  away  his  medicines, 
and  must  save  you  whether  you  will  come  to  God 
by  him  or  not:  so  that  a  great  part  of  your  sins  are 
occasioned  by  your  bold  presumption  upon  the  death 
of  Christ, — not  considering  that  he  came  to  redeem 
his  people  from  their  sins,  and  to  sanctify  them  a 
peculiar  people  to  himself,  and  to  conform  them  in 
holiness  to  the  image  of  their  heavenly  Father,  and 
to  their  head.  Matt.  i.  21.  Tit.  ii.  14.  1  Pet.  i.  15, 
16      Col.  Hi.  10,  11.     Phil.  iii.  95  10. 


148  A    CALL    TO 

6.  You  also  fetch  your  own  destruction  from  all 
the  providences  and  works  of  God.  When  you 
think  of  his  eternal  fore-knowledge  and  decrees,  it  is 
to  harden  you  in  your  sin,  or  possess  your  minds 
with  quarrelling  thoughts,  as  if  his  decrees  might 
spare  you  the  labour  of  repentance  and  a  holy  life, 
or  else  were  the  cause  of  sin  and  death.  If  he  afflict 
you,  you  repine;  if  he  prosper  you,  you  the  more 
forget  him,  and  are  the  more  backward  to  the 
thoughts  of  the  life  to  come.  If  the  wicked  prosper, 
you  forget  the  end  that  will  set  all  reckonings 
straight,  and  are  ready  to  think  it  is  as  good  to  be 
wicked  as  godly;  and  thus  you  draw  your  death 
from  all. 

7.  And  the  like  you  do  from  all  the  creatures  and 
mercies  of  God  to  you.  He  giveth  them  to  you  as 
the  tokens  of  his  love  and  furniture  for  his  service, 
and  you  turn  them  against  him,  to  the  pleasing  of 
your  flesh.  You  eat  and  drink  to  please  your  appe- 
tite, and  not  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  to  enable  you 
to  perform  his  work.  Your  clothes  you  abuse  to 
pride;  your  riches  draw  your  hearts  from  heaven, 
Phil.  iii.  18;  your  honours  and  applause  pufi'.you  up; 
if  you  have  health  and  strength,  it  makes  you  more 
secure,  and  forget  your  end.  Yea,  other  men's 
mercies  are  abused  by  you  to  your  hurt.  If  you 
see  their  honours  and  dignity,  you  are  provoked 
to  envy  them;  if  you  see  their  riches,  you  are  ready 
to  covet  them;  if  you  look  upon  beauty,  you  are 
stirred  up  to  lust;  and  it  is  well  if  godliness  be  not 
an  eye-sore  to  you. 

8.  The  very  gifts  that  God  bestoweth  on  you,  and 
the  ordinances  of  grace  which  he  hath  instituted  for 
his  church,  you  turn  to  sin.  If  you  have  better 
parts  than  others,  you  grow  proud  and  st'll-coiueit- 
ed;ifyou  have  but  common  gifts,  you  take  them 
for  special  grace.  You  take  the  bare  hearing  of 
your  duty  for  so  good  a  work,  as  if  it  would  excuse 
you  for  not  obeying  it.  Your  prayers  are  turned 
into    sin,   because  you  "  regard  iniquity  in  your 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  149 

hearts,"  Ps.  lxvi.  18.  and  depart  not  from  iniquity 
when  you  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.  2  Tim.  ii. 
19.  Your  "prayers  are  abominable,  because  you 
turn  away  your  ear  from  hearing  the  law,"  Prov. 
xxviii.  9.  and  are  more  ready  to  offer  the  sacrifice  of 
fools,  thinking  you  do  God  some  special  service, 
than  to  hear  his  word  and  obey  it     Eccles.  y.  1. 

9.  Yea,  the  persons  that  you  converse  with,  and 
all  their  actions,  you  make  the  occasions  of  your  sin 
and  destruction;  if  they  live  in  the  fear  of  God, 
you  hate  them.  If  they  live  ungodly,  you  imitate 
them;  if  the  wicked  are  many,  you  think  you  may 
the  more  boldly  follow  them;  if  the  godly  be  few, 
you  are  the  more  emboldened  to  despise  them.  If 
they  walk  exactly,  you  think  they  are  too  precise; 
if  one  of  them  fall  in  a  particular  temptation,  you 
stumble  and  turn  away  from  holiness,  because 
that  others  are  imperfectly  holy;  as  if  you  were 
warranted  to  break  your  necks,  because  some  others 
have  by  their  heedlessness  strained  a  sinew,  or  put. 
out  a  bone.  If  a  hypocrite  discover  himself  you 
say,  'They  are  all  alike,'  and  think  yourselves  as  hon- 
est as  the  best.  A  professor  can  scarce  slip  into  any 
miscarriage,  but  because  he  cuts  his  finger,  you 
think  you  may  boldly  cut  your  throats.  If  minis- 
ters deal  plainly  with  you,  you  say  they  rail.  If 
they  speak  gently  or  coldly,  you  either  sleep  under 
them,  or  are  little  more  affected  than  the  seats  you 
sit  upon.  If  any  errors  creep  into  the  church,  some 
greedily  entertain  them,  and  others  reproach  the 
Christian  doctrine  for  them,  which  is  most  against 
them.  And  if  we  would  draw  you  from  any  ancient 
rooted  error,  which  can  but  plead  two,  or  three,  or 
six, or  seven  hundred  years'  custom,  you  are  as  much 
offended  with  a  motion  for  reformation  as  if  you 
were  to  lose  your  life  by  it,  and  hold  fast  old  errors, 
while  you  cry  out  against  new  ones.  Scarce  a  dif- 
ference can  arise  among  the  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
but  you  will  fetch  your  own  death  from  it;  and  you 
will  not  hear,  or  at  least  not  obey,  the  unquestiona- 


150  A    CALL    TO 

ble  doctrine  of  any  of  those  that  agree  not  with  yon? 
conceits.  One  will  not  hear  a  minister,  because  he 
saith  the  Lord's  prayer;  and  another  will  not  hear 
him  because  he  doth  not  use  it.  One  will  not  hear 
them  that  are  for  episcopacy;  and  another  will  not 
hear  them  that  are  against  it.  And  thus  I  might 
show  it  you  in  many  other  cases,  how  you  turn  all 
that  comes  near  you  to  your  own  destruction;  so 
clear  is  it  that  the  ungodly  are  self-destroyers,  and 
that  their  perdition  is  of  themselves. 

Methinks  now,  upon  the  consideration  of  what  is 
said,  and  the  review  of  your  own  ways,  you  should 
bethink  you  what  you  have  done,  and  be  ashamed 
and  deeply  humbled  to  remember  it.  If  you  be  not, 
I  pray  you  consider  these  following  truths: — 

1.  To  be  your  own  destroyers,  is  to  sin  against 
the  deepest  principle  in  your  natures,  even  the  prin- 
ciple of  self-preservation.  Every  thing  naturally  de- 
sireth  or  inclineth  to  its  own  felicity,  welfare,  or  per- 
fection; and  will  you  set  yourselves  to  your  own 
destruction?  When  you  are  commanded  to  love 
your  neighbours  as  yourselves,  it  is  supposed  that 
you  naturally  love  yourselves;  but  if  you  love  your 
neighbours  no  better  than  yourselves,  it  seems  you 
would  have  all  the  world  to  be  damned. 

2.  How  extremely  do  you  cross  your  own  inten- 
tions! I  know  you  intend  not  your  own  damnation, 
even  when  you  are  procuring  it;  you  think  you  are 
but  doing  good  to  yourselves,  by  gratifying  the  desires 
of  your  rlesh.  But,  alas,  it  is  but  as  a  draught  of  cold 
water  in  a  burning  fever,  or  as  the  scratching  of  an 
itching  wild-fire,  which  increaseth  the  disease  and 
pain.  If  indeed  you  would  have  pleasure,  profit,  or 
honour,  seek  them  where  they  are  to  be  found,  and 
do  not  hunt  after  them  in  the  way  to  hell. 

8.  What  pity  is  it  that  you  should  do  that  against 
yourselves  which  none  else  on  earth  or  in  hell  can 
do!  If  all  the  world  were  combined  against  you,  or 
all  the  devils  in  hell  were  combined  against  you,  they 
could  not  destroy  you  without  yourselves,  nor  make 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  151 

you  sin  but  by  your  own  consent :  and  will  you  do 
that  against  yourselves  which  no  one  else  can  do  ? 
You  have  hateful  thoughts  of  the  devil,  because  he 
is  your  enemy,  and  endeavoureth  your  destruction* 
and  will  you  be  worse  than  devils  to  yourselves? 
Why  thus  it  is  with  you,  if  you  had  hearts  to  un- 
derstand it:  when  you  run  into  sin,  and  run  from 
godliness,  and  refuse  to  turn  at  the  call  of  God,  you 
do  more  against  your  own  souls  than  men  or  devils 
could  do  besides;  and  if  you  should  set  yourselves 
and  bend  your  wits  to  do  yourselves  the  greatest 
mischief,  you  could  not  devise  to  do  a  greater. 

4.  You  are  false  to  the  trust  that  God  hath  re- 
posed in  you.  He  hath  much  intrusted  you  with 
your  own  salvation;  and  will  you  betray  your  trust? 
He  hath  set  you,  with  all  diligence,  to  keep  your 
hearts;  and  is  this  the  keeping  of  them?  Prov.  iv.  28. 

5.  You  do  even  forbid  all  others  to  pity  you,  when 
you  will  have  no  pity  on  yourselves.  If  you  cry  to 
God  in  the  day  of  your  calamity,  fbr  mercy,  mercy — 
what  can  you  expect,  but  that  he  should  thrust  you 
away,  and  say,  'Nay,  thou  wouldst  not  have  mercy 
on  thyself;  who  brought  this  upon  thee  but  thy  own 
wilfulness?5  And  if  your  brethren  see  you  everlast- 
ingly in  misery,  how  shall  they  pity  you  that  wTere 
your  own  destroyers,  and  would  not  be  dissuaded? 

6.  It  will  everlastingly  make  you  your  own  tor- 
mentors in  hell,  to  think  that  you  brought  yourselves 
wilfully  to  that  misery.  O  what  a  piercing  thought 
it  will  be  for  ever  to  think  with  yourselves  that  this 
was  your  own  doing !  that  you  were  warned  of  this 
day,  and  warned  again,  but  it  would  not  do;  that 
you  wilfully  sinned,  and  wilfully  turned  away  from 
God !  that  you  had  time  as  well  as  others,  but  you 
abused  it;  you  had  teachers  as  well  as  others,  but 
you  refused  their  instruction;  you  had  holy  exam- 
ples, but  you  did  not  imitate  them;  you  were  offer- 
ed Christ,  and  grace,  and  glory,  as  well  as  others, 
but  you  had  more  mind  of  your  fleshly  pleasures ! 
you  had  a  price  in  your  hands,  but  you  had  not  a 


152  A   CALL    TO 

heart  to  lay  it  out.  Prov.  xvii.  16.  Can  it  fail  to 
torment  you  to  think  of  this  your  present  folly?  O 
that  your  eyes  were  opened  to  see  what  you  have 
done  in  the  wilful  wronging  of  your  own  souls !  and 
that  you  better  understood  these  words  of  God. 
Prov.  viii.  33 — 36.  "  Hear  instruction  and  be  wise, 
and  refuse  it  not.  Blessed  is  the  man  that  heareth 
me,  watching  daily  at  my  gates,  waiting  at  the  posts 
of  my  doors:  for  whoso  findeth  me  findeth  life,  and 
shall  obtain  favour  of  the  Lord.  But  he  that  sin- 
neth  against  me,  wrongeth  his  own  soul.  All  they 
that  hate  me  love  death." 

And  now  I  am  come  to  the  conclusion  of  this 
work,  my  heart  is  troubled  to  think  how  I  shall 
leave  you,  lest  after  this  the  flesh  should  still  deceive 
you,  and  the  world  and  the  devil  should  keep  you 
asleep,  and  I  should  leave  you  as  I  found  you,  till 
you  awake  in  hell.  Though  in  care  of  your  poor 
souls,  I  am  afraid  of  this,  as  knowing  the  obstinacy 
of  a  carnal  heart;  yet  I  can  say  with  the  prophet 
Jeremiah,  xvii.  16.  "I  have  not  desired  the  woful 
day,  thou  Lord  knowest."  I  have  not  with  James 
and  John  desired  that  "  fire  might  come  from  heav- 
en" to  consume  them  that  refused  Jesus  Christ. 
Luke  ix.  54.  But  it  is  the  preventing  of  the  eternal 
fire  that  I  have  been  all  this  while  endeavouring:  and 
O  that  it  had  been  a  needless  work !  That  God  and 
conscience  might  have  been  as  willing  to  spare  me 
this  labour  as  some  of  you  could  have  been.  Dear 
friends,  I  am  so  loth  that  you  should  lie  in  everlast- 
ing fire,  and  be  shut  out  of  heaven,  if  it  be  possible 
to  prevent  it,  that  I  shall  once  more  ask  you,  what 
do  you  now  resolve?  Will  you  turn  or  die?  I  look 
upon  you  as  a  physician  on  his  patient,  in  a  danger- 
ous disease,  that  saith  to  him,  'Though  you  are 
far  gone,  take  but  this  medicine,  and  forbear  but 
those  few  things  that  are  hurtful  to  you,  and  I  dare 
warrant  your  life;  but  if  you  will  not  do  this,  you 
are  but  a  dead  man.5  What  would  you  think  of 
such  a  man,  if  the  physician,  and  all  the  friends  he 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  153 

hath,  cannot  persuade  him  to  take  one  medicine  to 
save  his  life,  or  to  forbear  one  or  two  poisonous 
things  that  would  kill  him?  This  is  your  case.  As 
far  as  you  are  gone  in  sin,  do  but  now  turn  and 
come  to  Christ,  and  take  his  remedies,  and  your 
souls  shall  live.  Cast  up  your  deadly  sins  by  repent- 
ance, and  return  not  to  the  poisonous  vomit  any 
more,  and  you  shall  do  well.  But  yet,  if  it  were 
your  bodies  that  we  had  to  deal  with,  we  might 
partly  know  what  to  do  for  you.  Though  you 
would  not  consent,  yet  you  might  be  held  or  bound 
while  the  medicine  were  poured  down  your  throats, 
and  hurtful  things  might  be  kept  from  you.  But 
about  your  souls  it  cannot  be  so;  we  cannot  convert 
you  against  your  wills.  There  is  no  carrying  mad- 
men to  heaven  in  fetters.  You  may  be  condemned 
against  your  wills,  because  you  sinned  with  your 
wills;  but  you  cannot  be  saved  against  your  wills. 
The  wisdom  of  God  has  thought  meet  to  lay  men's 
salvation  or  destruction  exceedingly  much  upon  the 
choice  of  their  own  will,  that  no  man  shall  come  to 
heaven  that  chose  not  the  way  to  heaven;  and  no 
man  shall  come  to  hell,  but  shall  be  forced  to  say, '  I 
have  the  thing  I  chose;  my  own  will  did  bring  me 
hither.5  Now,  if  I  could  but  get  you  to  be  willing, 
to  be  thoroughly,  and  resolvedly,  and  habitually  wil- 
ling, the  work  were  more  than  half  done.  And  alas ! 
must  we  lose  our  friends,  and  must  they  lose  their 
God,  their  happiness,  their  souls,  for  want  of  this? 
O  God  forbid !  It  is  a  strange  thing  to  me  that  men 
are  so  inhuman  and  stupid  in  the  greatest  matters, 
who  in  lesser  things  are  civil  and  courteous,  and 
good  neighbours.  For  aught  I  know,  I  have  the 
love  of  all,  or  almost  all  my  neighbours,  so  far,  that 
if  I  should  send  to  any  man  in  the  town,  or  parish, 
or  country,  and  request  a  reasonable  courtesy  of 
them,  they  would  grant  it  me;  and  yet  when  I  come 
to  request  of  them  the  greatest  matter  in  the  world, 
for  themselves,  and  not  for  me,  I  can  have  nothing 
of  many  of  them  but  a  patient  hearing.     I  know  not 


154  A    CALL    TO 

whether  people  think  a  man  in  the  pulpit  is  in  good 
earnest  or  not,  and  means  as  he  speaks;  for  I  think 
I  have  few  neighbours,  but,  if  I  were  sitting  famil- 
iarly with  them,  and  telling  them  what  I  have  seen 
and  done,  or  known  in  the  world,  they  themselves 
shall  see  and  know  in  the  world  to  come,  they  would 
believe  me,  and  regard  what  I  say;  but  when  1  tell 
them,  from  the  infallible  word  of  God,  what  they 
themselves  shall  see  and  know  in  the  world  to  come, 
they  show  by  their  lives,  that  they  do  either  not  be- 
lieve it  or  not  much  regard  it.  If  I  met  any  one  of 
them  on  the  way,  and  told  them  yonder  is  a  coal-pit, 
or  there  is  a  quicksand,  or  there  are  thieves  lying  in 
wait  for  you,  I  could  persuade  them  to  turn  by;  but 
when  I  tell  them  that  Satan  lieth  in  wait  for  them, 
and  that  sin  is  poison  to  them,  and  that  hell  is  not  a 
matter  to  be  jested  with,  they  go  on  as  if  they  did 
not  hear  me.  Truly,  neighbours,  I  am  in  as  good 
earnest  with  you  in  the  pulpit  as  I  am  in  my  famil- 
iar discourse;  and  if  ever  you  will  regard  me,  1  be- 
seech you  let  it  be  here.  I  think  there  is  not  a  man 
of  you  all,  but,  if  my  own  soul  lie  at  your  wrills,  you 
would  be  willing  so  save  it,  though  I  cannot  promise 
that  you  would  leave  your  sins  for  it.  Tell  me,  thou 
drunkard,  art  thou  so  cruel  to  me,  that  thou  wouldst 
not  forbear  a  few  cups  of  drink,  if  thou  knowest  it 
would  save  my  soul  from  hell?  Hadst  thou  rather 
that  I  did  burn  there  for  ever  than  thou  shouldst 
live  soberly  as  other  men  do?  If  so,  may  I  not  say, 
thou  art  an  unmerciful  monster,  and  not  a  man?  If 
I  came  hungry  or  naked  to  one  of  your  doors,  would 
you  not  part  writh  more  than  a  cup  of  drink  to  re- 
lieve me?  I  am  confident  you  would.  If  it  were 
to  save  my  life,  I  know  you  would,  some  of  you, 
hazard  your  own;  and  yet  will  you  not  be  entreated 
to  part  with  your  sensual  pleasures  for  your  own  sal- 
vation? Wouldst  thou  Ibrbear  a  hundred  cups  of 
drink,  to  save  my  life,  if  it  were  in  thy  power,  and 
wilt  thou  not  do  it  to  save  thy  own  soul?  I  profess 
to  you,  sirs,  I  am  as  hearty  a  beggar  with  you  this 


THE   UNCONVERTED.  155 

day  for  the  saving  of  your  own  souls,  as  I  would  be 
for  my  own  supply,  if  I  were  forced  to  come  beg- 
ging to  your  doors;  and  therefore  if  you  would  hear 
me  then,  hear  me  now.  If  you  would  pity  me  then, 
be  entreated  now  to  pity  yourselves.  I  do  again  be- 
seech you,  as  if  it  were  on  my  bended  knees,  that 
you  would  hearken  to  your  Redeemer,  and  Turn, 
that  you  may  live.  All  you  that  have  lived  in  igno- 
rance, and  carelessness,  and  presumption  to  this  day; 
all  you  that  have  been  drowned  in  the  cares  of  the 
world,  and  have  no  mind  of  God,  and  eternal  glory; 
all  you  that  are  enslaved  to  your  fleshly  desires  of 
meats  and  drinks,  sports  and  lusts;  and  all  you  that 
know  not  the  necessity  of  holiness,  and  never  were 
acquainted  with  the  sanctifying  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  upon  your  souls;  that  never  embraced  your 
blessed  Redeemer  by  a  lively  faith,  and  with  admir- 
ing and  thankful  apprehensions  of  his  love;  and  that 
never  felt  a  higher  estimation  of  God  and  heaven, 
and  a  heartier  love  to  them  than  to  your  fleshly 
prosperity,  and  the  things  below, — I  earnestly  be- 
seech you,  not  only  for  my  sake,  but  for  the  Lord's 
sake,  and  for  your  soul's  sake,  that  you  go  not  one 
day  longer  in  your  former  condition,  but  look  about 
you,  and  cry  to  God  for  converting  grace,  that  you 
may  be  made  new  creatures,  and  may  escape  the 
plagues  that  are  a  little  before  you.  And  if  ever 
you  will  do  any  thing  for  me,  grant  me  this  request, 
to  turn  from  your  evil  ways  and  live.  Deny  me  any 
thing  that  ever  I  shall  ask  you  for  myself,  if  you  will 
but  grant  me  this;  and  if  you  deny  me  this,  I  care 
not  for  any  thing  else  that  you  would  grant  me. 
Nay,  as  ever  you  will  do  any  thing  at  the  request  of 
the  Lord  that  made  you  and  redeemed  you,  deny 
him  not  this;  for  if  you  deny  him  this,  he  cares  for 
nothing  that  you  shall  grant  him.  As  ever  you 
would  have  him  hear  your  prayers,  and  grant  your 
requests,  and  do  for  you  at  the  hour  of  death  and 
day  of  judgment,  or  in  any  of  your  extremities,  de- 
ny not  his  request  now  in  the  day  of  your  prosperi- 


156  A    CALL    TO 


ty.  O,  sirs,  believe  it,  death  and  judgment,  and 
heaven  and  hell,  are  other  matters  when  you  come 
near  them,  than  they  seem  to  carnal  eyes  afar  off; 
then  you  would  hear  such  a  message  as  I  bring  you 
with  more  awakened  regardful  hearts. 

Well,  though  I  cannot  hope  so  well  of  all,  I  will 
hope  that  some  of  you  are  by  this  time  purposing 
to  turn  and  live :  and  that  you  are  ready  to  ask  me, 
as  the  Jews  did  Peter,  (Acts  ii.  37.)  when  they  were 
pricked  in  their  hearts,  and  said,  "Men  and  brethren, 
what  shall  we  do?"  How  might  we  come  to  be  tru- 
ly converted  ?  We  are  willing,  if  we  did  but  know 
our  duty.  God  forbid  that  we  should  choose  des- 
truction, by  refusing  conversion,  as  hitherto  we  have 
done. 

If  these  be  the  thoughts  and  purposes  of  your 
hearts,  I  say  of  you  as  God  did  of  a  promising  peo- 
ple, Deut.  v.  28,  29.  «  They  have  well  said  all  that 
they  have  spoken:  O  that  there  were  such  a  heart  in 
them,  that  they  would  fear  me,  and  keep  all  my 
commandments  always ! "  Your  purposes  are  good : 
O  that  there  were  but  a  heart  in  you  to  perform 
these  purposes !  And  in  hope  hereof  I  shall  gladly 
give  you  direction  what  to  do,  and  that  but  briefly, 
that  you  may  the  easier  remember  it  for  your  prac- 
tice. 

Direction  I. — If  you  would  be  converted  and 
saved,  labour  to  understand  the  necessity  and  true 
nature  of  conversion:  for  what,  and  from  what,  and 
to  what,  and  by  what  it  is  that  you  must  turn. 

Consider  in  what  a  lamentable  condition  you  are 
till  the  hour  of  your  conversion,  that  you  may  see 
it  is  not  a  state  to  be  rested  in.  You  are  under  the 
guilt  of  all  the  sins  that  ever  you  committed,  and 
under  the  wrath  of  God  and  the  curse  of  his  law: 
you  are  bond  slaves  to  the  devil,  and  daily  em- 
ployed in  his  work  against  the  Lord,  yourselves, 
and  others:  you  are  spiritually  dead  and  deformed, 
as  being  devoid  of  the  holy  life,  and  nature,  and  lm- 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  157 

age  of  the  Lord.  You  are  unfit  for  any  holy  work, 
and  do  nothing  that  is  truly  pleasing  to  God.  You 
are  without  any  promise  or  assurance  of  his  protec- 
tion, and  live  in  continual  danger  of  his  justice,  not 
knowing  what  hour  you  may  be  snatched  away  to 
hell,  and  most  certain  to  be  lost  if  you  die  in  that  con- 
dition; and  nothing  short  of  conversion  can  prevent 
it.  Whatever  civilities,  or  amendments,  are  snort  of 
true  conversion,  will  never  procure  the  saving  of 
your  souls.  Keep  the  true  sense  of  this  natural 
misery,  and  so  of  the  necessity  of  conversion  on  your 
hearts. 

And  then  you  must  understand  what  it  is  to  be 
converted;  it  is  to  have  a  new  heart  or  disposition, 
and  a  new  conversation. 

Quest  I.  For  what  must  we  turn? 

Jlnsw.  For  these  ends  following,  which  you  may 
attain:  1.  You  shall  immediately  be  made  living 
members  of  Christ,  and  have  an  interest  in  him,  and 
be  renewed  after  the  image  of  God,  and  be  adorned 
with  all  his  graces,  and  quickened  with  a  new  and 
heavenly  life,  and  saved  from  the  tyranny  of  Satan, 
and  the  dominion  of  sin,  and  be  justified  from  the 
curse  of  the  law,  and  have  the  pardon  of  all  the  sins 
of  your  whole  lives,  and  be  accepted  of  God,  and 
made  his  sons,  and  have  liberty  with  boldness  to 
call  him  Father,  and  go  to  him  by  prayer  in  all  your 
needs,  with  a  promise  of  acceptance;  you  shall  have 
the  holy  Ghost  to  dwell  in  you,  to  sanctify  and  guide 
you;  you  shall  have  part  in  the  brotherhood,  com- 
munion, and  prayers  of  the  saints;  you  shall  be  fit- 
ted for  God's  service,  and  be  freed  from  the  domin- 
ion of  sin,  and  be  useful  and  a  blessing  to  the  place 
where  you  live;  and  shall  have  the  promise  of  this 
life  and'  that  which  is  to  come;  you  shall  want  noth- 
ing that  is  truly  good  for  you,  and  your  necessary  af- 
flictions you  will  be  enabled  to  bear;  you  may  have 
some  taste  of  communion  with  God  in  the  Spirit, 
especially  in  all  holy  ordinances,  where  God  prepar- 
eth  a  feast  for  your  souls;  you  shall  be  heirs  of  hea 


15S  A    CALL    TO 

ven  while  you  live  on  earth,  and  may  foresee  by  faith 
the  everlasting  glory,  and  so  may  live  and  die  in 
peace;  and  you  shall  never  be  so  low  but  your  happi- 
ness will  be  incomparably  greater  than  your  misery. 

How  precious  is  every  one  of  these  blessings, 
Which  I  do  but  briefly  name,  and  which  in  this  life 
you  may  receive ! 

And  then,  2.  At  death  your  souls  shall  go  to 
Christ,  and  at  the  day  of  judgment  both  soul  and 
body  shall  be  justified  and  glorified,  and  enter  into 
your  Master's  joy,  where  your  happiness  will  con- 
sist in  these  particulars: 

1.  You  shall  be  perfected  yourselves;  your  mor- 
tal bodies  shall  be  made  immortal,  and  the  corrup- 
tible shall  put  on  incorruption;  you  shall  no  more 
be  hungry,  or  thirsty,  or  weary,  or  sick,  nor  shall 
you  need  to  fear  either  shame,  or  sorrow,  or  death, 
or  hell;  your  souls  shall  be  perfectly  freed  from  sin, 
and  perfectly  fitted  for  the  knowledge,  and  love,  and 
praises  of  the  Lord. 

2.  Your  employment  shall  be  to  behold  your  glo- 
rified Redeemer,  with  all  your  holy  fellow-citizens 
of  heaven,  and  to  see  the  glory  of  the  most  blessed 
God,  and  to  love  him  perfectly,  and  be  beloved  by 
him,  and  to  praise  him  everlastingly. 

3.  Your  glory  will  contribute  to  the  glory  of  the 
New  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  the  living  God;  which  is 
more  than  to  have  a  private  felicity  to  yourselves. 

4.  Your  glory  will  contribute  to  the  glorifying  of 
your  Redeemer,  who  will  everlastingly  be  magnified 
and  pleased  in  that  you  are  the  travail  of  his  soul; 
anil  this  is  more  than  the  glorifying  of  yourselves. 

5.  And  the  eternal  Majesty,  the  living  God,  will 
be  glorified  in  your  glory,  both  as  he  is  magnified  by 
your  praises,  and  as  he  communieateth  of  his  glory 
and  goodness  to  you,  and  as  he  is  pleased  in  you, 
and  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  glorious  work,  in 
the  glory  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  of  his  Son. 

All  this  the  poorest  beggar  of  you  that  is  convert 
ed,  shall  certainly  and  endlessly  enjoy. 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  159 

II.  You  see  for  what  you  must  turn:  next  you 
must  understand  from  what  you  must  turn;  and 
this  is,  in  a  word,  from  your  carnal  self,  which  is  the 
end  of  all  the  unconverted: — from  the  flesh  that 
would  be  pleased  before  God,  and  would  still  be  en- 
ticing you; — from  the  world,  that  is  the  bait;  and 
from  the  devil,  that  is  the  angler  for  souls,  and  the 
deceiver.     And  so  from  all  known  and  wilful  sins. 

III.  Next  you  must  know  to  what  end  you  must 
turn;  and  that  is,  to  God  as  your  end;  to  Christ  as 
the  way  to  the  Father;  to  holiness  as  the  way  ap- 
pointed you  by  Christ;  and  to  the  use  of  all  the  helps 
and  means  of  grace  afforded  you  by  the  Lord. 

IV.  Lastly,  You  must  know  by  what  you  must 
turn;  and  that  is  by  Christ,  as  the  only  Redeemer 
and  Intercessor;  and  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the 
Sanctifier;  and  by  the  word,  as  his  instrument  or 
means;  and  by  faith  and  repentance,  as  the  means 
and  duties  on  your  part  to  be  performed.  All  this 
is  of  necessity. 

Direction  II. — If  you  will  be  converted  and  sav- 
ed, be  much  in  serious  secret  consideration.  Incon- 
siderateness  undoes  the  world.  Withdraw  your- 
selves oft  into  retired  secrecy,  and  there  bethink 
you  of  the  end  why  you  were  made,  of  the  life  you 
have  lived,  of  the  time  you  have  lost,  the  sins  you 
have  committed;  of  the  love  and  sufferings,  and  ful- 
ness of  Christ;  of  the  danger  you  are  in;  of  the  near- 
ness of  death  and  judgment;  of  the  certainty  and 
excellency  of  the  joys  of  heaven;  and  of  the  certainty 
and  terror  of  the  torments  of  hell,  and  the  eternity 
of  both;  and  of  the  necessity  of  conversion  and  a 
holy  life.  Absorb  your  hearts  in  such  considera- 
tions as  these. 

Direction  III. — If  you  will  be  converted  and 
saved,  attend  upon  the  word  of  God,  which  is  the 
ordinary  means.  Read  the  Scripture,  or  hear  it 
read,  and  other  holy,  writings  that  do  apply  it;  con- 


160  A    CALL    TO 

stantly  attend  on  the  public  preaching  of  the  word. 
As  God  will  light  the  world  by  the  sun,  and  not  by 
himself  without  it,  so  will  he  convert  and  save  men 
by  his  ministers,  who  are  the  lights  of  the  world. 
Acts  xxvi.  17,  18.  Matt.  v.  14.  When  he  had  mi- 
raculously humbled  Paul,  he  sent  him  to  Ananias, 
Acts  ix.  10;  and  when  he  had  sent  an  angel  to  Cor- 
nelius, it  was  but  to  bid  him  send  for  Peter,  who 
must  tell  him  what  to  believe  and  do. 

Direction  IV. — Betake  yourselves  to  God  in  a 
course  of  earnest  constant  prayer.  Confess  and  la- 
ment your  former  lives,  and  beg  his  grace  to  illumi- 
nate and  convert  you.  Beseech  him  to  pardon  what 
is  past,  and  to  give  you  his  Spirit,  and  change  your 
hearts  and  lives,  and  lead  you  in  his  ways,  and  save 
you  from  temptation.  Pursue  this  work  daily,  and 
be  not  weary  of  it. 

Direction  V. — Presently  give  over  your  known 
and  wilful  sins.  Make  a  stand,  and  go  that  way  no 
farther.  Be  drunk  no  more,  but  avoid  the  very 
occasion  of  it.  Cast  away  your  lusts  and  sinful 
pleasures  with  detestation.  Curse,  and  swear,  and 
rail  no  more;  and  if  you  have  wronged  any,  restore, 
as  Zaccheus  did :  if  you  will  commit  again  your  old 
sins,  what  blessing  can  you  expect  on  the  means 
for  conversion  ? 

Direction  VI. — Presently,  if  possible,  change 
your  company,  if  it  hath  hitherto  been  bad;  not  by 
forsaking  your  necessary  relations,  but  your  unne- 
cessary sinful  companions;  and  join  yourselves  with 
those  that  fear  the  Lord,  and  inquire  of  them  the 
way  to  heaven.    Acts  ix.  1 9,  26.     Psalm  xv.  4. 

Direction  VII. — Deliver  up  yourselves  to  the 
Lord  Jesus,  as  the  physician  of  your  souls,  that  he 
may  pardon  you  by  his  blood,  and  sanctity  you  by 
his  Spirit,  by  his  word  and  ministers,  the  instru- 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  161 

ments  of  the  Spirit.  He  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and 
the  life;  there  is  no  coming  to  the  Father  but  by 
him.  John  xiv.  6.  Nor  is  there  any  other  name  un- 
der heaven,  by  which  you  can  be  saved.  Acts  iv.  12. 
Study,  therefore,  his  person  and  natures,  and  what, 
he  hath  done  for  you,  and  what  he  is  to  you,  and 
what  he  will  be,  and  how  he  is  fitted  to  the  full  sup- 
ply of  all  your  necessities. 

Direction  VIII. — If  you  mean  indeed  to  turn 
and  live,  do  it  speedily,  without  delay.  If  you  be 
not  willing  to  turn  to-day,  you  are  not  willing  to  do 
it  at  all.  Remember,  you  are  all  this  while  in  your 
blood,  under  the  guilt  of  many  thousand  sins,  and 
under  God's  wrath,  and  you  stand  at  the  very  brink 
Df  hell;  there  is  but  a  step  between  you  and  death: 
and  this  is  not  a  case  for  a  man  that  is  well  in  his 
wits  to  be  quiet  in.  Up  therefore  presently,  and  fly 
as  for  your  lives,  as  you  would  be  gone  out  of  your 
house  if  it  were  all  on  fire  over  your  head.  O,  if 
you  did  but  know  in  what  continual  danger  you  live, 
and  what  daily  unspeakable  loss  you  sustain,  and 
what  a  safer  and  sweeter  life  you  might  live,  you 
would  not  stand  trifling,  but  presently  turn.  Mul- 
titudes miscarry  that  wilfully  delay,  when  they  are 
convinced  that  it  must  be  done.  Your  lives  are 
short  and  uncertain;  and  what  a  case  are  you  in  if 
you  die  before  you  thoroughly  turn!  Ye  have 
staid  too  long  already,  and  wronged  God  too  long. 
Sin  getteth  strength  while  you  delay.  Your  con- 
version will  grow  more  hard  and  doubtful.  You 
have  much  to  do,  and  therefore  put  not  all  off  to 
the  last,  lest  God  forsake  you,  and  give  you  up  to 
yourselves,  and  then  you  are  undone  for  ever. 

Direction  IX. — If  you  will  turn  and  live,  do  it 
unreservedly,  absolutely,  and  universally.  Think 
not  to  capitulate  with  Christ,  and  divide  your  heart 
between  him  and  the  world;  and  to  part  with  some 
sins,  and  keep  the  rest;  and  to  let  that  go  which 
14 


162  A    CALL    TO 

your  flesh  can  spare.  This  is  but  self-deluding;  you 
must  in  heart  and  resolution  forsake  all  that  you 
have,  or  else  you  cannot  be  his  disciples.  Luke  xiv. 
26,  S3.  If  you  will  not  take  God  and  heaven  for 
your  portion,  and  lay  all  below  at  the  feet  of  Christ, 
but  you  must  needs  also  have  your  good  things  here, 
and  have  an  earthiy  portion,  and  God  and  glory  are 
not  enough  for  you, — it  is  in  vain  to  dream  of  salva- 
tion on  these  terms;  for  it  will  not  be.  If  you  seem 
never  so  religious,  if  yet  it  be  but  a  carnal  right- 
eousness, and  if  the  flesh's  prosperity,  or  pleasure, 
or  safety,  be  still  excepted  in  your  devotedness  to 
God,  this  is  as  certain  a  way  to  death  as  open  pro- 
faneness,  though  it  be  more  plausible. 

Direction  X. — If  you  will  turn  and  live,  do  it 
resolvedly,  and  stand  not  still  deliberating,  as  if  it 
were  a  doubtful  case.  Stand  not  wavering,  as  if 
you  were  uncertain  whether  God  or  the  flesh  be  the 
better  master,  or  whether  sin  or  holiness  be  the  bet- 
ter way,  or  whether  heaven  or  hell  be  the  better 
end.  But  away  with  your  former  lusts,  and  pre- 
sently, habitually,  fixedly  resolve.  Be  not  one  day 
of  one  mind,  and  the  next  day  of  another;  but  be  at 
a  point  with  all  the  world,  and  resolvedly  give  up 
yourselves  and  all  you  have  to  God.  Now,  while 
you  are  reading,  or  hearing  this,  resolve;  before  you 
sleep  another  night,  resolve;  before  you  stir  from 
the  place,  resolve;  before  Satan  have  time  to  take 
you  ofF,  resolve.  You  never  turn  indeed  till  you  do 
resolve,  and  that  with  a  firm  unchangeable  resolu- 
tion. 


And  now  I  have  done  my  part  in  this  work,  that 
you  may  turn  to  the  call  of  God,  and  live.  What 
will  become  of  it  I  cannot  tell.  I  have  cast  the  seed 
at  God's  command;  but  it  is  not  in  my  power  to 
give  the  increase.  I  can  go  no  further  with  my 
message;  I  cannot  bring  it  to  your  heart,  nor  make 


THE    UNCONVERTED.  163 

it  work;  1  cannot  do  your  parts  for  you  to  entertain  it 
and  consider  it;  nor  can  I  do  God's  part,  by  opening 
your  heart  to  entertain  it;  nor  can  I  show  heaven  or 
hell  to  your  sight,  nor  give  you  new  and  tender 
hearts.  If  I  knew  what  more  to  do  for  your  conver- 
sion, 1  hope  I  should  do  it. 

But  O  thou  that  art  the  gracious  Father  of  spir- 
its, thou  hast  sworn  thou  delightest  not  in  the  death 
of  the  wicked,  but  rather  that  they  turn  and  live; 
deny  not  thy  blessing  to  these  persuasions  and  di- 
rections, and  suffer  not  thine  enemies  to  triumph  in 
thy  sight,  and  the  great  deceiver  of  souls  to  prevail 
against  thy  Son,  thy  Spirit,  and  thy  Word !  O  pity 
poor  unconverted  sinners,  that  have  no  hearts  to 
pity  or  help  themselves!  Command  the  blind  to 
see,  and  the  deaf  to  hear,  and  the  dead  to  live,  and 
let  not  sin  and  death  be  able  to  resist  thee.  Awak- 
en the  secure,  resolve  the  unresolved,  confirm  the 
wavering;  and  let  the  eyes  of  sinners,  that  read  these 
lines,  be  next  employed  in  weeping  over  their  sins, 
and  bring  them  to  themselves,  and  to  thy  Son,  be- 
fore their  sins  have  brought  them  to  perdition.  If 
thou  say  but  the  word,  these  poor  endeavours  shall 
prosper  to  the  winning  of  many  a  soul  to  their  ever- 
lasting joy,  and  thine  everlasting  glory. — Amen. 


]YOW  OR  NEVER. 

EXTRACTED  FROM 

A  DISCOURSE  OF  REV.  RICHARD  BAXTER. 

ECCLES.  IX.  10. 

Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth,  to  do,  do  it  with  thy 
might ;  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor 
knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  the  grave,  whither 
thou  goest. 

The  mortality  of  man  being  the  principal  sub- 
ject of  Solomon  in  this  chapter,  and  observing  that 
wisdom  and  piety  exempt  not  men  from  death,  he 
first  hence  infers,  that  God's  love  or  hatred  to  one 
man  above  another,  is  not  to  be  gathered  by  his 
dealings  with  them  here,  where  all  things  in  the  com- 
mon course  of  providence  come  alike  to  all.  The 
common  sin  hath  introduced  death  as  a  common 
punishment,  which  levels  all,  and  ends  all  the  con- 
trivances, businesses,  and  enjoyments  of  this  life, 
to  good  and  bad;  and  discriminating  justice  is  not 
ordinarily  manifested  here:  an  epicure  or  infidel 
would  think  Solomon  was  here  pleading  his  unman- 
ly impious  cause:  but  it  is  not  the  cessation  of  the 
life,  or  operations,  or  enjoyments  of  the  soul  that 
he  is  speaking  of,  as  if  there  were  no  life  to  come, 
or  the  soul  of  man  were  not  immortal;  but  it  is  the 
cessation  of  all  the  actions,  and  honours,  and  pleas- 
ures of  this  life,  which  to  good  or  bad  shall  be  no 


166  now  or  NEVER. 

more.  Here  they  have  no  more  reward,  the  memo- 
ry of  them  will  be  here  forgotten.  "  They  have  no 
more  a  portion  for  ever  in  any  thing  that  is  done 
under  the  sun." 

From  hence  he  further  infers,  that  the  comforts 
of  life  are  but  short  and  transitory,  and  therefore 
that  what  the  creature  can  afford,  must  be  presently 
taken:  and  as  the  wicked  shall  have  no  more  but 
present  pleasures,  so  the  faithful  may  take  their  law- 
ful comforts  in  the  present  moderate  use  of  the  crea- 
tures. For  if  their  enjoyment  be  of  right  and  use 
to  any,  it  is  to  them;  and,  therefore,  .though  they 
may  not  use  them  to  their  hurt,  to  the  pampering  of 
their  flesh,  and  strengthening  their  lusts,  and  hin- 
dering spiritual  duties,  benefits, .  and  salvation;  yet 
must  they  u  serve  the  Lord  with  joy  fulness,  and  with 
gladness  of  heart,  for  the  abundance  of  all  tlungs  " 
which  he  giveth  them. 

Next  he  infers,  from  the  brevity  of  man's  life,  the 
necessity  of  speed  and  diligence  in  his  duty.  And 
this  is  in  the  words  of  my  text;  where  you  have, 
1.  The  duty  commanded.  2.  The  reason  or  mo- 
tive to  enforce  it. 

The  duty  is  in  the  first  part,  "  Whatsoever  thy 
hand  findeth  to  do,"  that  is,  whatever  work  is  as- 
signed thee  by  God  to  do  in  this  thy  transitory  life, 
"  do  it  with  thy  might;"  that  is,  1.  Speedily,  without 
delay.  2.  Diligently;  and  not  with  slothfulness,  or 
by  halves. 

2.  The  motive  is  in  the  latter  part,  "  For  there 
is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom, 
in  the  grave,  whither  thou  goest;"  that  is,  it  must 
be  now  or  never.  The  grave,  where  thy  work  can- 
not be  done,  will  quickly  end  thy  opportunities. 
The  sense  is  obviously  contained  in  these  two  pro- 
positions : — 

Doctrine  1. — "The  work  of  this  life  cannot 
be  done  when  this  life  is  ended :  or,  There  is  no 
working  in  the  grave,  to  which  we  are  all  making 
haste." 


NOW    OR    NEVER.  167 

Doctrine  2. — "Therefore,  while  we  have  time, 
we  must  do  our  best:  or  do  the  work  of  this  pres- 
ent life  with  vigour  and  diligence." 

I.  It  is  from  an  unquestionable  and  commonly  ac- 
knowledged truth,  that  Solomon  here  urgeth  us  to 
diligence  in  duty;  and  therefore  to  prove  it  would 
be  but  loss  of  time.  As  there  are  two  worlds  for 
man  to  live  in,  and  so  two  lives  for  man  to  live,  so 
each  of  these  lives  hath  its  peculiar  employment. 
This  is  the  life  of  preparation :  the  next  is  the  life 
of  rewards  or  punishments.  We  are  now  but  in  the 
womb  of  eternity,  and  must  live  hereafter  in  the  open 
world.  We  are  now  but  sent  to  school  to  learn  the 
work  that  we  must  do  for  ever:  this  is  the  time  of 
our  apprenticeship;  we  are  learning  the  trade  that 
we  must  live  upon  in  heaven.  We  run  now,  that 
we  may  then  receive  the  crown;  we  fight  now,  that 
we  may  then  triumph  in  victory.  The  grave  hath 
no  work;  but  heaven  hath  work,  and  hell  hath  suf- 
fering: there  is  no  repentance  unto  life  hereafter; 
but  there  is  repentance  to  torment  and  to  despera- 
tion. There  is  no  believing  of  a  happiness  unseen 
in  order  to  the  obtaining  of  it;  or  of  a  misery  unseen 
in  order  to  the  escaping  of  it;  nor  believing  in  a 
Saviour  in  order  to  these  ends.  But  there  is  the 
fruition  of  the  happiness  which  was  here  believed; 
and  feeling  of  the  misery  that  men  would  not  be- 
lieve; and  suffering  from  him  as  a  righteous  Judge, 
whom  they  rejected  as  a  merciful  Saviour.  So  that 
it  is  not  all  work  that  ceaseth  at  our  death;  but  only 
the  work  of  this  present  life. 

And  indeed  no  reason  can  show  us  the  least  proba- 
bility of  doing  our  work  when  our  time  is  gone,  that 
was  given  us  to  do  it  in.  If  it  can  be  done,  it  must 
be,  1.  By  the  recalling  of  our  time.  2.  By  there- 
turn  of  life.  8.  Or,  by  opportunity  in  another  life. 
But  there  is  no  hope  of  any  of  these. 

1.  Who  knoweth  not  that  time  cannot  be  re- 
called? That  which  once  was,  will  be  no  more. 
Yesterday  will  never  come  again.    To-day  is  pass- 


163  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

ing,  and  will  not  return.  You  may  work  while  it 
is  day;  but  when  you  have  lost  that,  day,  it  will  not 
return  for  you  to  work  in.  While  your  candle 
burnetii,  you  may  make  use  of  its  light;  but  when  it 
is  done,  it  is  too  late  to  use  it.  No  force  of  medi- 
cine, no  orator's  elegant  persuasions,  no  worldling's 
wealth,  no  prince's  power,  can  call  back  one  day  or 
hour  of  time.  K  they  could,  what  endeavours  would 
there  be  used,  when  extremity  hath  taught  them  to 
value  what  they  now  despise!  What  bargaining 
would  there  be  at  last,  if  time  could  be  purchased 
for  any  thing  that  man  can  give.  Then  misers 
would  bring  out  their  wealth,  and  say,  l  All  this  will 
I  give  for  one  day's  time  of  repentance  more.5  And 
lords  and  knights  would  lay  down  their  honours,  and 
say,  t  Take  all,  and  let  us  be  beggars,  if  we  may 
have  but  one  year  of  the  time  that  we  unspent.* 
Then  kings  would  lay  down  their  crowns,  and  say, 
'  Let  us  be  equal  with  the  lowest  subjects,  so  we 
may  but  have  the  time  again  that  we  wasted  in  the 
cares  and  pleasures  of  the  world.'  Kingdoms  would 
then  seem  a  contemptible  price  for  the  recovery  of 
time. 

The  time  that  is  now  idled  and  talked  away;  the 
time  that  is  now  feasted  and  complimented  away, 
that,  is  unnecessarily  sported  and  slept  away;  that  is 
wickedly  and  presumptuously  sinned  away;  how 
precious  will  it  one  day  seem  to  all !  How  happy  a 
bargain  would  they  think  they  had  made,  if  at  the 
dearest  rates  they  could  redeem  it? 

The  profanest  mariner  falls  a  praying,  when  he 
fears  his  titne  is  at  an  end.  If  importunity  would 
then  prevail,  how  earnestly  would  they  pray  for  the 
recovery  of  time  that  formerly  derided  praying! 
What  a  liturgy  would  death  teach  the  trilling  time- 
despising  gallants,  the  idle,  busy,  dreaming,  active, 
ambitious,  covetous  lovers  of  this  world,  if  time  could 
be  entreated  to  return!  How  passionately  then 
would  they  pour  out  their  requests!  'O  that  we 
might  once  see  the  days  of  hope,  and  means,  and 


NOW   OR    NEVER.  169 

mercy,  which  once  we  saw,  and  .would  not  see!  O 
that  we  had  those  days  to  spend  in  penitential  tears 
and  prayers,  and  holy  preparations  for  an  endless 
life,  which  we  spent  at  cards,  in  needless  recreations, 
in  idle  talk,  in  humouring  others,  in  the  pleasing  of 
our  flesh,  or  in  the  inordinate  cares  and  businesses 
of  the  world !  O  that  our  youthful  vigour  might 
return!  that  our  years  might  be  renewed!  that  the 
days  we  spent  in  vanity  might  be  recalled !  that  min- 
isters might  -again  be  sent  to  us  publicly  and  private- 
ly, with  the  message  of  grace  which  we  once  made 
light  of !  that  the  sun  would  once  more  shine  upon 
us !  and  that  patience  and  mercy  would  once  more 
reassume  their  work ! ' 

If  cries  or  tears,  or  price  or  pains,  would  bring 
back  lost  abused  time,  how  happy  were  the  now 
distracted,  dreaming,  dead-hearted,  and  impenitent 
world  !  If  it  would  then  serve  their  turn  to  say  to 
the  vigilant  believers,  "  Give  us  of  your  oil,  for  our 
lamps  are  gone  out;"  or  to  cry,  "  Lord,  Lord,  open 
to  us,"  when  the  door  is  shut;  the  foolish  would  be 
saved  as  well  as  the  wise.  But  "  this  is  the  day  of 
salvation !  this  is  the  accepted  time."  While  it  is 
called  to-day,  hearken,  and  harden  not  your  hearts. 
Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  use  the  light  that  is 
afforded  thee  by  Christ;  or  else  the  everlasting  utter 
darkness  will  shortly  end  thy  time  and  hope. 

2.  And  as  time  can  never  be  recalled,  so  life  shall 
never  be  here  restored:  "If  a  man  die,  shall  he 
live  (here)  again?"  All  the  days  of  our  appointed 
time  we  must  therefore  wait,  in  faith  and  diligence, 
till  our  change  shall  come.  One  life  is  appointed 
us  on  earth,  to  despatch  the  work  on  which  our 
everlasting  life  dependeth:  and  we  shall  have  but 
one.  Lose  that,  and  all  is  lost  for  ever :  yet  you  may 
hear,  and  read,  and  learn,  and  pray;  but  when  this 
life  is  ended,  it  shall  be  so  no  more.  You  shall  rise 
from  the  dead  indeed  to  judgment,  and  to  the  life 
that  you  are  now  preparing  for;  but  never  to  such  a 
life  as  this  on  earth  •  your  life  is  as  the  fighting  of  a 
15 


170  NOW  OR    NEVLft. 

battle,  that  must  be  won  or  lost  at  once.  There  is 
no  coming  hither  again  to  mend  what  is  done  amiss. 
Oversights  must  be  presently  corrected  by  repent- 
ance, or  else  they  are  everlastingly  past  remedy. 
Now,  if  you  be  not  truly  converted,  you  may  be;  if 
you  find  that  you  are  carnal  and  miserable,  you  may 
be  healed;  if  you  are  unpardoned,  you  may  be  par- 
doned; if  you  are  enemies,  you  may  be  reconciled 
to  God:  but  when  once  the  thread  of  life  is  cut, 
your  opportunities  are  at  an  end.  Now  you  may 
inquire  of  your  friends  and  teachers  what  you  must 
do  to  be  saved;  and  you  may  receive  particular 
instructions  and  exhortations,  and  God  may  bless 
them,  to  the  illuminating,  renewing,  and  saving  of 
your  souls.  But  when  life  is  past,  it  will  be  so 
no  more.  O  then,  if  departed  souls  might  but  re- 
turn, and  once  more  be  tried  with  the  means  of  life, 
what  joyful  tidings  would  it  be!  How  welcome 
would  the  messenger  be  that  bringeth  it!  Had 
hell  but  such  an  offer  as  this,  and  would  any  cries 
procure  it  from  their  righteous  Judge,  O  what  a 
change  would  be  among  them !  How  importunately 
would  they  cry  to  God,  *  O  send  us  once  again  to 
the  earth !  Once  more  let  us  see  the  face  of  mercy, 
and  hear  the  tenders  of  Christ  and  of  salvation ! 
Once  more  let  the  ministers  offer  us  their  helps,  and 
teach  in  season  and  out  of  season,  in  public  and  in 
private,  and  we  will  refuse  their  help  and  exhorta- 
tions no  more:  we  will  hate  them,  and  drive  them 
away  from  our  houses  and  towns  no  more.  Once 
more  let  us  have  thy  word,  and  ordinances,  and  try 
whether  we  will  not  believe  them,  and  use  them  bet- 
ter than  we  did.  Once  more  let  us  have  the  help 
and  company  of  thy  saints,  and  we  will  scorn  them, 
and  abuse  them,  and  persecute  them  no  more.  O 
for  the  great  invaluable  mercy  of  such  a  life  as  once 
we  had !  O  try  us  once  more  with  such  a  life,  and 
see  whether  we  will  not  contemn  the  we 
close  with  Christ,  and  live  as  strictly,  and  , 
earnestly,  as  those  that  we  hated  and  abuse3 


NOW    OR    NEVER.  171 

doing !  O  that  we  might  once  more  be  admitted  in- 
to the  holy  assemblies,  and  have  the  Lord's  days  to 
spend  in  the  business  of  our  salvation !  We  would 
plead  no  more  against  the  power  and  purity  of  the 
ordinances;  we  would  no  more  call  that  day  a  bur- 
den, nor  hate  them  that  spent  it  in  works  of  holi- 
ness, nor  plead   for  the  liberty  of  the  flesh  therein.' 

He  that  would  have  Lazarus  sent  from  the  dead 
to  warn  his  unbelieving  brethren  on  earth,  no  doubt 
would  have  strongly  purposed  himself  on  a  reforma- 
tion, if  he  might  once  more  have  been  tried :  and 
how  earnestly  would  he  have  begged  for  such  a  trial, 
that  begged  so  hard  for  a  drop  of  water  ?  But,  alas ! 
such  mouths  must  be  stopped  for  ever  with — "  Re- 
member that  thou,  in  thy  lifetime,  received  thy  good 
things." 

So  that  "  it  is  appointed  for  men  once  to  die,  and 
after  that  the  judgment."  But  there  is  no  return 
to  earth  again:  the  places  of  your  abode,  employ- 
ment, and  delight,  shall  know  you  no  more.  You 
must  see  these  faces  of  your  friends,  and  converse 
in  flesh  with  men  no  more.  This  world,  those 
houses,  that  wealth  and  honour,  as  to  any  fruition, 
must   be  to  you  as  if  you  had  never  known  them. 

You  must  assemble  here  but  a  little  while.  Yet 
a  little  longer,  and  we  must  preach,  and  you  must 
hear  it  no  more  for  ever.  That  therefore  which 
you  will  do,  must  presently  be  done,  or  it  will  be 
too  late.  If  ever  you  will  repent  and  believe,  it 
must  be  now.  If  ever  you  will  be  converted  and 
sanctified,  it  must  be  now.  If  ever  you  will  be  par- 
doned and  reconciled  to  God,  it  must  be  now.  If 
ever  you  will  reign,  it  is  now  that  you  must  fight 
and  conquer.  "O  that  you  were  wise,  that  you 
understood  this,  and  that  you  would  consider  your 
latter  end !"  And  that  you  would  let  those  words 
sink  down  into  your  hearts,  which  came  from  the 
heart  of  the  Redeemer,  as  was  witnessed  by  his 
tears:  "  If  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in 
this  thy  day,  the  things  which  belong  unto  thy 


172  NOW   OR   NEVER. 

peace!  but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes." 
And  that  these  warnings  may  not  be  the  less  re- 
garded, because  you  have  so  often  heard  them;  when 
often  hearing  increaseth  your  obligation,  and  dimin- 
isheth  not  the  truth,  or  your  danger. 

3.  And  as  there  is  no  return  to  earth,  so  is  there  no 
doing  this  work  hereafter.  Heaven  and  hell  are  for 
other  work.  The  harvest  doth  presuppose  the  seed- 
time, and  the  labour  of  the  husbandman.  It  is  now 
that  you  must  sow,  and  hereafter  that  you  must 
reap.  It  is  now  that  you  must  work,  and  then  that 
you  must  receive  your  wages. 

Is  this  believed  and  considered  by  the  sleepy 
world?  Alas!  sirs,  do  you  live  as  men  that  must 
live  here  no  more?  Do  you  work  as  men  that  must 
work  no  more,  and  pray  as  men  that  must  pray  no 
more,  when  once  the  time  of  work  is  ended  ?  What 
thinkest  thou !  will  God  command  the  sun  to  stand 
still  while  thou  rebeliest  or  forgettest  thy  work  and 
him!  Dost  thou  expect  he  should  pervert  the 
course  of  nature,  and  continue  the  spring  and  seed- 
time till  thou  hast  a  mind  to  sow?  Will  he  renew 
thy  age,  and  make  thee  young  again,  and  call  back 
the  hours  that  thou  hast  prodigally  wasted  on  thy 
lusts  and  idleness?  Canst  thou  look  for  this  at  the 
hand  of  God,  when  nature  and  Scripture  assure 
thee  of  the  contrary?  If  not,  why  hast  thou  not 
yet  done  with  thy  beloved  sins  ?  Why  hast  thou 
not  yet  begun  to  live?  Why  sittest  thou  still  while 
thy  soul  is  unrenewed,  and  all  thy  preparation  tor 
death  and  judgment  is  yet  to  make?  How  fain 
would  Satan  find  thee  thus  at  death?  How  lain 
would  he  have  leave  to  blow  out  thy  candle,  before 
thou  hast  entered  into  the  way  of  life?  Dost  thou 
look  to  have  preachers  sent  after  thee,  to  bring  thee 
the  mercy  which  thy  contempt  here  left  behind? 
Wilt  thou  hear  and  be  converted  in  the  grave  and 
hell?  or  wilt  thou  be  saved  without  holiness?  that 
is,  in  despite  of  God  that  hath  resolved  it  shall  not 
be.      0  ye  sons  of  sleep,  of  death,  of  darkness, 


NOW   OR    NE_ 

awake,  and  live,  and  hear  the  IXQrd,  before  the  grave 
and  hell  have  shut  their  mouthsfiipo'ri-  you !iH  lijgr^^ 
now,  lest  hearing  be  too  late !  Hear  now,  if  you 
will  ever  hear.  Hear  now,  if  you  have  ears  to  hear ! 
And,  O  ye  sons  of  light,  that  see  what  sleeping  sin- 
ners see  not,  call  to  them,  and  ring  them  such  a  peal 
of  lamentations,  tears,  and  compassionate  entreaties, 
as  is  suited  to  such  a  dead  and  doleful  state;  who 
knows  but  God  may  bless  it  to  awake  them? 

II.  If  any  of  you  be  so  far  awakened  as  to  ask  me 
what  I  am  calling  you  to  do,  my  text  tells  you  in 
general.  Up  and  be  doing;  look  about  you,  and  see 
what  you  have  to  do,  and  do  it  with  your  might. 

1.  "Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,"  that 
is,  whatsoever  is  a  duty  imposed  by  the  Lord,  what- 
soever is  a  means  conducing  to  thy  own  or  others5 
welfare;  whatsoever  necessity  calleth  thee  to  do, 
and  opportunity  alloweth  thee  to  do. 

"  Thy  hand  findeth;"  that  is,  thy  executive  powers 
by  the  conduct  of  thy  understanding,  is  now  to  do. 

"  Do  it  with  thy  might."     Do  thy  best  in  it. 

1.  Trifle  not,  but  do  it  presently,  without  un- 
necessary delay. 

2.  Do  it  resolutely;  remain  not  doubtful,  unre- 
solved, in  suspense,  as  if  it  were  yet  a  question  with 
thee  whether  thou  shouldst  do  it,  or  not. 

3.  Do  it  with  thy  most  awakened  affections,  and 
serious  intention  of  the  powers  of  thy  soul.  Sleepi- 
ness and  insensibility  are  most  unsuitable  to  such 
works. 

4.  Do  it  with  all  necessary  forecast  and  contri- 
vance: not  with  a  distracting  hindering  care;  but 
with  such  a  care  as  may  show  that  you  despise  not 
your  Master,  and  are  not  regardless  of  his  work: 
and  with  such  a  care  as  is  suited  to  the  difficulties 
and  nature  of  the  thing,  and  is  necessary  to  the  due 
accomplishment  of  it. 

5.  Do  it  not  slothfully,  but  vigorously  and  with 
diligence.  "  Hide  not  thy  hand  in  thy  bosom  with 
the  slothful,"  and  say  not,  "There  is  a  lion  in  the 


174 


NOW    OR    NEVER. 


way."  The  negligent  and  the  vicious,  the  waster 
and  the  slothful,  differ  but  as  one  brother  from 
another.  As  the  self-murder  of  the  wilful  ungodly, 
so  also  the  desire  of  the  slothful  killeth  him,  because 
his  hands  refuse  to  labour.  "  The  soul  of  the  slug- 
gard desireth  and  hath  nothing;  but  the  soul  of  the 
diligent  shall  be  made  fat."  "Be  not  slothful  in 
business,  but  be  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord." 

6.  Do  it  with  constancy,  and  not  with  destruc- 
tive pauses  and  intermissions,  or  with  weariness  and 
turning  back.  "  The  righteous  shall  hold  on  his 
way,  and  he  that  is  of  clean  hands  shall  be  stronger 
and  stronger."  "  Be  steadfast,  unmoveable,  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as 
you  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the 
Lord."  "Be  not  weary  in  well-doing:  for  in  due 
season  we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not." 

But,  that  misunderstanding  hinder  not  the  per- 
formance, I  shall  acquaint  you  further  with  the 
sense,  by  these  few  explicatory  cautions. 

1.  The  might  and  diligence  here  required,  ex- 
clude not  the  necessity  of  deliberation  and  prudent 
conduct.  Otherwise,  the  faster  you  go,  the  further 
you  may  go  out  of  the  way;  and  misguided  zeal  may 
spoil  all  the  work,  and  make  it  but  an  injury  to 
others  or  yourselves.  A  little  imprudence  in  the 
season,  and  order,  and  manner  of  a  duty,  sometimes 
may  spoil  it,  and  hinder  the  success,  and  make  it  do 
more  hurt  than  good.  How  many  a  sermon,  or 
prayer,  or  reproof,  is  made  the  matter  of  derision 
and  contempt,  for  some  imprudent  passages  or  de- 
portment! God  sendeth  not  his  servants  to  be 
jesters  of  the  world,  or  to  play  the  madman  as  Da- 
vid in  his  fears;  we  must  be  wise  and  innocent,  as 
well  as  resolute  and  valiant:  though  fleshly  and 
worldly  wisdom  be  not  desirable,  as  being  but  fool- 
ishness with  God;  yet  the  wisdom  which  is  from 
above,  and  is  first  pure  and  then  peaceable,  and  is 
acquainted  with  the  high  and  hidden  mysteries,  and 
is  justified  of  her  children,  must  be  the  guide  of  all 


NOW   OR    NEVER.  175 

our  holy  actions.  Holiness  is  not  blind:  illumina- 
tion is  the  first  part  of  sanctification.  Believers  are 
children  of  the  light.  Nothing  requireth  so  much 
wisdom  as  the  matters  of  God,  and  of  our  salvation. 
Folly  is  most  unsuitable  to  such  excellent  employ- 
ments, and  most  unbeseeming  the  sons  of  the  Most 
High.  It  is  a  spirit  of  wisdom  that  animateth  all 
the  saints.  "  Howbeit  we  speak  wisdom  among  them 
that  are  perfect;  yet  not  the  wisdom  of  this  world, 
nor  of  the  princes  of  this  world,  that  come  to  nought: 
but  we  speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery,  even 
the  hidden  wisdom,  which  God  ordained  before  the 
world  unto  our  glory."  It  is  the  treasures  of  wisdom 
that  dwell  in  Christ,  and  are  communicated  to  his 
members.  We  must  "walk  in  wisdom  toward 
them  that  are  without."  And  our  works  must  be 
"  shown  out  of  a  good  conversation,  with  meekness 
of  wisdom." 

2.  Though  you  must  work  with  your  might,  yet 
with  a  diversity  agreeable  to  the  quality  of  your  sev- 
eral works.  Some  works  must  be  preferred  before 
others:  all  cannot  be  done  at  once.  That  is  a  sin 
out  of  season,  which  in  season  is  a  duty.  The 
greatest,  and  the  most  urgent  work  must  be  pre- 
ferred. And  some  works  must  be  done  with  double 
fervour  and  resolution,  and  some  with  less.  Buy- 
ing, and  selling,  and  possessing,  and  using  the  world, 
must  be  done  with  a  fear  of  overdoing,  and  in  a 
manner  as  if  we  did  them  not,  though  they  also 
must  have  a  necessary  diligence.  God's  "  kingdom 
and  its  righteousness  must  be  first  sought."  And 
our  labour  for  the  meat  that  perisheth,  must  be 
comparatively  as  none:  "  Labour  not  for  the  meat 
which  perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life,  which  the  Son  of  man  shall 
give  unto  you:  for  him  hath  God  the  Father  sealed." 

3.  Lastly,  it  is  not  an  irregular,  nor  a  selfolisturb- 
ing  vexatious  violence  that  is  required  of  us;  but  a 
sweet  well  settled  resolution,  and  a  delightful  expe- 
ditious diligence,  that  make  the  wheels  more  easily 


176  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

get  over  those  difficulties  that  clog  and  stop  a  sloth- 
ful soul. 

And  now  will  you  lend  me  the  assistance  of  your 
consciences,  for  the  transcribing  of  this  command  of 
God  upon  your  hearts,  and  taking  out  a  copy  of  this 
order,  for  the  regulating  of  your  lives?  Whatsoever 
is  not  a  work  so  comprehensive  as  to  include  any 
vanity  or  sin;  but  so  comprehensive  as  to  include  all 
our  duty. 

1.  To  begin  with  the  lowest:  the  very  works  of 
your  bodily  callings  must  have  diligence.  "  In  the 
sweat  of  your  brows  you  must  eat  your  bread."  "  Six 
days  shalt  thou  labour,  and  do  all  that  thou  hast  to 
do."  "  He  that  will  not  work,  let  him  not  eat." 
Disorderly  walkers,  busybodies,  that  will  not  work 
with  quietness,  and  eat  their  own  bread,  are  to  be 
avoided  and  shamed  by  the  church.  "  For  we  hear 
that  there  are  some  which  walk  among  you  disorder- 
ly, working  not  at  all,  but  are  busybodies.  Now 
them  that  are  such  we  command  and  exhort  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  with  quietness  they  work,  and 
eat  their  own  bread."  Lazy  servants  are  unfaithful 
to  men  and  disobedient  to  God,  who  commandeth 
them  to  "  obey  their  masters  according  to  the  flesh, 
(unbelieving,  ungodly  masters)  in  all  things,  (that 
concern  their  service)  and  that  not  with  eye-service, 
as  men-pleasers,  but  in  singleness  of  heart,  and  in 
the  fear  of  God,  do  whatsoever  they  do  as  to  the 
Lord,  and  not  unto  men;  knowing  that  of  the  Lord 
(even  for  this)  they  shall  receive  the  reward  of  the 
inheritance."  "  But  he  that  doth  wrong  (by  sloth- 
fulness,  or  unfaithfulness)  shall  receive  for  the  wrong 
which  he  hath  done." 

Success  is  Go^'s  ordinary  temporal  reward  of 
diligence:  "The  hand  of  the  diligent  shall  bear 
rule:  but  the  slothful  shall  be  under  tribute.  The 
slothful  man  roasteth  not  that  which  he  took  in 
hunting:  but  the  substance  of  a  diligent  man  is  pre- 
cious." And  diseases,  poverty,  shame,  disappoint- 
ment, or  self-tormenting  melancholy,  are  his  usual 


NOW   OR    NEVER.  177 

punishments  of  sloth.  Hard  labour  redeemeth  time : 
you  will  have  the  more  to  lay  out  on  greater  works : 
the  slothful  is  still  behindhand,  and  therefore  must 
leave  much  of  his  work  undone. 

2.  Are  you  parents  or  governors  of  families? 
You  have  work  to  do  for  God,  and  for  your  chil- 
dren and  servants'  souls.  Do  it  with  your  might: 
deal  wisely,  but  seriously  and  frequently  with  them 
about  their  sin,  their  duty,  and  their  hopes  of  heav- 
en; tell  them  whither  they  are  going,  and  which  way 
they  must  go.  Make  them  understand  that  they 
have  a  higher  Father  and  Master  that  must  be  first 
served,  and  greater  work  than  yours.  Waken  them 
from  their  natural  insensibility  and  sloth:  turn  not 
all  your  family  duties  into  lifeless  customary  forms; 
whether  extemporary,  or  by  rote;  speak  about  God, 
and  heaven,  and  hell,  and  holiness,  with  that  serious- 
ness which  beseems  men  that  believe  what  they  say, 
and  would  have  those  believe  it  to  whom  they  speak. 
Talk  not  either  drowsily,  or  lightly,  or  jestingly  of 
such  dreadful,  or  joyful,  inexpressible  things.  Re- 
member, that  your  families  and  you  are  going  to 
the  grave,  and  to  the  world  where  there  is  no  more 
room  for  your  exhortations.  There  is  no  catechis- 
ing, examining,  or  serious  instructing  them  in  the 
grave,  whither  they  and  you  are  going. — It  must 
be  now  or  never:  and  therefore  do  it  with  your 
might.  "  The  words  of  God  must  be  in  your  hearts, 
and  you  must  diligently  teach  them  to  your  children, 
talking  of  them  when  you  sit  in  your  houses,  when 
you  walk  by  the  way,  when  you  lie  down,  and  when 
you  rise  up." 

3.  Have  you  ignorant  or  ungodly  neighbours, 
whose  misery  calls  for  your  compassion  and  relief  ? 
Speak  to  them,  and  help  them  with  prudent  dili- 
gence. Lose  not  your  opportunities:  stay  not  till 
death  hath  stopped  your  mouths,  or  stopped  their 
ears.  Stay  not  till  they  are  out  of  hearing,  or  till 
heaven  be  lost,  before  you  have  seriously  called  on 
them  to  remember  it.  .  Go  to  their  houses:  take  all 


178  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

opportunities:  stoop  to  their  infirmities:  bear  with 
unthankful  frowardness;  it  is  for  men's  salvation. 
Remember  there  is  no  place  for  your  instructions  or 
exhortations  in  the  grave  or  hell.  Your  dust  can- 
not speak,  and  their  dust  cannot  hear.  Up,  there- 
fore, and  be  doing  with  all  your  might. 

4.  Hath  God  intrusted  you  with  the  riches  of  the 
world;  with  many  talents  or  with  few,  by  which  he 
looketh  you  should  relieve  the  needy,  and  especially 
should  promote  those  works  of  piety  which  are  the 
greatest  charity?  Give  prudently,  but  willingly  and 
liberally,  while  you  have  to  give.  It  is  your  gain  : 
the  time  of  laying  up  a  treasure  in  heaven,  and  fur- 
thering your  salvation  by  that  winch  hindereth 
other  men's,  and  occasioneth  their  perdition.  "  As 
you  have  opportunity,  do  good  to  all  men,  but  es- 
pecially to  them  of  the  household  faith."  "Cast 
thy  bread  upon  the  waters;  for  thou  shalt  fmd  it 
after  many  days.  Give  a  portion  to  seven  and  to 
eight;  for  thou  knowest  not  what  evil  may  be  upon 
the  earth."  "  In  the  morning  sow  thy  seed,  and  in 
the  evening  withhold  not  thy  hand :  for  thou  know- 
est not  whether  shall  prosper,  this  or  that,  or  wheth- 
er they  both  shall  be  alike  good."  "Withhold  not 
good  from  them  to  whom  it  is  due,  when  it  is  in  the 
power  of  thy  hand  to  do  it.  Say  not  to  thy  neigh- 
Dour,  go  and  come  again,  and  to-morrow  I  will  give, 
when  thou  hast  it  by  thee."  Lay  up  a  foundation 
for  the  time  to  come.  Do  good  before  thy  heart  be 
hardened,  thy  riches  blasted  and  consumed,  thy  op- 
portunities taken  away;  part  with  it  before  it  part 
with  thee.  Remember  it  must  be  now  or  never. 
There  is  no  working  in  the  grave. 

5.  Hath  God  intrusted  you  with  power  or  inter- 
est, by  which  you  may  promote  his  honour  in  the 
world,  and  relieve  the  oppressed,  and  restrain  the 
rage  of  impious  malice?  Hath  he  made  you  govern- 
ors, and  put  the  sword  of  justice  into  your  hands? 
Up  then  and  be  doing  with  your  might.  Defend 
the  innocent,  protect  the  servants  of  the  Lord,  cher- 


NOW   OR    NEVER.  179 

ish  them  that  do  well,  be  a  terror  to  the  wicked, 
encourage  the  strictest  obedience  to  the  universal 
Governor,  discountenance  the  breakers  of  his  laws. 
Your  trust  is  great,  and  so  is  your  advantage  to  do 
good;  and  how  great  will  be  your  account,  and  how 
dreadful,  if  you  be  unfaithful! 

6.  To  come  yet  a  little  nearer  to  you,  and  speak 
of  the  work  that  is  yet  to  be  done  in  your  own  souls; 
are  any  of  you  yet  in  the  state  of  unrenewed  nature, 
born  only  of  the  flesh,  and  not  of  the  Spirit? 
"  Minding  the  things  of  the  flesh,  and  not  the  things 
of  the  Spirit,"  and  consequently  yet  in  the  power  of 
Satan,  taken  captive  by  him  at  his  will?  Up  and 
be  doing,  if  thou  lovest  thy  soul.  If  thou  carest 
whether  thou  shalt  be  in  joy  or  misery  for  ever,  be- 
wail thy  sin  and  spiritual  distress.  Go  to  Christ, 
cry  mightily  to  him  for  his  renewing,  reconciling, 
and  pardoning  grace.  Plead  his  satisfaction,  his 
merits,  and  his  promises;  away  with  thy  rebellion, 
and  thy  beloved  sin;  deliver  up  thy  soul  entirely  to 
Christ,  to  be  sanctified,  governed  and  saved  by  him. 
Make  no  more  demurs;  it  is  not  a  matter  to  be  ques- 
tioned, or  trifled  in.  Let  the  earth  be  acquainted 
with  thy  bended  knees,  and  the  air  with  thy  com- 
plaints and  cries,  and  men  with  thy  confessions  and 
inquiries  after  the  way  of  life;  and  heaven  with  thy 
sorrows,  desires,  and  resolutions,  till  thy  soul  be  ac- 
quainted with  the  Spirit  of  Christ;  and  with  the 
new,  the  holy  and  heavenly  nature,  and  thy  heart 
have  received  the  transcript  of  God's  law,  the  im- 
press of  the  Gospel,  and  so  the  image  of  thy  Crea- 
tor and  Redeemer.  For  there  is  no  conversion,  reno- 
vation, or  repentance  unto  life,  in  the  grave  whither 
thou  goest.  It  must  be  now  or  never.  And  never 
saved  if  never  sanctified:  "Without  holiness  no 
man  shall  see  the  Lord." 

7.  Hast  thou  any  prevailing  sin  to  mortify,  that 
either  reigneth  in  thee,  or  woundeth  thee  and  keep- 
eth  thy  soul  in  darkness  and  unacquaintedness  with 
God  ?    Assault  it  resolutely;  reject  it  speedily;  abhor 


180  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

the  motions  of  it;  turn  away  from  the  persons  or 
things  that  would  entice  thee.  Hate  the  doors  of 
the  harlot  and  of  the  ale-house,  or  the  gaming-house; 
and  go  not  as  the  "ox  to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a 
hird  to  the  fowler's  snare,  and  as  a  fool  to  the  correc- 
tion of  the  stocks,  as  if  thou  knewest  not  that  it  is 
for  thy  life."  Why  wilt  thou  be  tasting  of  the  poi- 
soned cup?  Wilt  thou  be  sporting  with  the  bait? 
Hast  thou  no  where  to  walk  or  play,  but  at  the 
brink  of  ruin?  Must  not  the  flesh  be  crucified,  with 
its  "affections  and  lusts?"  Must  it  not  be  tamed 
and  mortified,  or  thy  soul  condemned?  "  For  if  ye 
live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die:  but  if  ye  through 
the  Spirit  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall 
live."  Run  not  therefore  as  at  uncertainty;  fight 
not  as  one  "  that  beats  the  air."  Seeing  this  must 
be  done,  or  thou  art  undone,  delay  and  dally  with 
sin  no  longer.  Let  this  be  the  day;  resolve,  and 
resist  it  with  thy  might:  it  must  be  now  or  never: 
when  death  comes  it  is  too  late. 

8.  Art  thou  in  a  declined,  fallen  state?  Decayed 
in  grace?  Hast  thou  lost  thy  first  desires  and  love? 
Do  thy  first  works,  and  do  them  with  thy  might. 
Delay  not,  but  remember  from  whence  thou  art 
fallen.  Cry  out  with  Job,  "  O  that  I  were  as  in 
months  past;  as  in  the  days  when  God  preserved 
me!  when  his  candle  shined  upon  my  head,  and 
when,  by  his  light,  I  walked  through  darkness.  As 
I  was  in  the  days  of  my  youth,  when  the  secret  of 
God  was  on  my  tabernacle,  when  the  Almighty  was 
yet  with  me."  Return,  while  thou  hast  day,  lest 
the  night  surprise  thee. 

9.  Art  thou  in  the  darkness  of  uncertainty  con- 
cerning thy  conversion,  and  thy  everlasting  state? 
Dost  thou  not  know  whether  thou  art  in  a  state  of 
life  or  death?  And  what  should  become  of  thee, 
if  this  were  the  day  or  hour  of  thy  change?  If  thou 
art  careless  in  thy  uncertainty,  and  mindest  not  so 
great  a  business,  be  awakened,  and  call  thy  soul  to 
its  account;  search  and  examine  thy  heart  and  life; 


NOW    OR    NEVER  181 

read  and  consider,  and  take  advice  of  faithful  guides. 
Canst  thou  carelessly  sleep,  and  laugh,  and  sport, 
and  follow  thy  business,  as  if  thy  salvation  were 
made  sure,  when  thou  knowcst  not  where  thou  must 
dwell  for  ever?  "  Examine  yourselves  whether  you 
be  in  the  faith;  prove  yourselves;  know  ye  not  your 
own  selves,  that  Christ  is  in  you,  except  ye  be  rep- 
robates?" "  Give  all  diligence  to  make  your  calling 
and  election  sure."  In  the  grave  and  hell  there  is  no 
making  sure  of  heaven;  you  are  then  past  inquiries 
and  self-examination,  in  order  to  any  recovery  or 
hope.  Another  kind  of  trial  will  finally  resolve  you. 
It  must  be  now  or  never. 

10.  In  all  the  duties  of  thy  profession  of  piety, 
justice,  or  chanty,  to  God,  thyself,  or  others,  up 
and  be  doing  with  thy  might.  Art  thou  seeking  to 
inflame  thy  soul  with  love  to  God  ?  Plunge  thyself 
in  the  ocean  of  his  love;  admire  his  mercies;  gaze 
upon  the  representations  of  his  transcendent  good- 
ness; "  O  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  gracious!" 
Remember  that  he  must  be  loved  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  soul,  and  might;  canst  thou  pour  out  thy  love 
upon  a  creature,  and  give  but  a  few  barren  drops 
to  God? 

When  thou  art  fearing,  let  his  fear  command  thy 
soul,  and  conquer  all  the  fear  of  man.  When  thou 
art  trusting  him,  do  it  without  distrust,  and  cast  all 
thy  care  and  thyself  upon  him:  trust  him  as  a  crea- 
ture should  trust  his  God,  and  the  members  of 
Christ  should  trust  their  head  and  dear  Redeemer. 
When  thou  art  making  mention  of  his  great  and 
dreadful  name,  O  do  it  with  reverence,  and  awe,  and 
admiration :  and  "  take  not  the  name  of  God  in 
vain !"  When  thou  art  reading  his  word,  let  the 
majesty  of  the  Author,  and  the  greatness  of  the 
matter,  and  the  gravity  of  the  style,  possess  thee 
with  an  obedient  fear.  Love  it,  and  let  it  be  sweeter 
to  thee  than  the  honey-comb,  and  more  precious 
than  thousands  of  gold  and  silver.  Resolve  to  do 
what  there  thou  findest  to  be  the  will  of  God. 


182  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

When  thou  art  praying  in  secret,  or  in  thy  family, 
"do  it  with  thy  might:'5  cry  mightily  to  God,  as  a 
soul  under  sin,  wants,  and  danger,  that  is  stepping 
into  an  endless  life,  should  do.  Let  the  reverence 
and  the  fervour  of  thy  prayers,  show  that  it  is  God 
himself  that  thou  art  speaking  to:  that  it  is  heaven 
itself  that  thou  art  praying  for;  hell  itself  that  thou 
art  praying  to  be  saved  from.  Wilt  thou  be  dull 
and  senseless  on  such  an  errand  to  the  living  God  ? 
Remember  what  lieth  upon  thy  failing  or  prevailing: 
and  that  it  must  be  now  or  never. 

Art  thou  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  and  takest 
charge  of  the  souls  of  men?  "Take  heed  to  thy- 
self and  to  the  whole  flock,  over  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  made  thee  an  overseer,  to  feed  the 
church  of  God,  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his 
own  blood."  Let  not  the  blood  of  souls,  and  the 
blood  that  purchased  them,  "be  required  at  thy 
hands."  Thou  art  charged  "  before  God,  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  judge  the  quick  and 
the  dead  at  his  appearing,  and  his  kingdom,  that  thou 
preach  his  word:  be  instant  in  season,  and  out  of 
season;  reprove,  rebuke,  and  exhort,  with  all  long- 
suffering  and  doctrine."  "Teach  every  man,  and 
exhort  every  man, — even  night  and  day  with  tears." 
"  Save  men  with  fear,  pulling  them  out  of  the  fire. 
Cry  aloud:  lift  up  thy  voice  like  a  trumpet;  tell  them 
of  their  transgressions."  Yet  thou  art  alive,  and 
they  alive;  yet  thou  hast  a  tongue,  and  they  have 
ears:  the  final  sentence  hath  not  yet  cut  off  their 
hopes.  Preach,  therefore,  and  preach  with  all  thy 
might.  Exhort  them,  privately  and  personally, 
with  all  the  seriousness  thou  canst.  Quickly,  or  it 
will  be  too  late;  prudently,  or  Satan  will  overreach 
thee;  fervently,  or  thy  words  are  likely  to  be  disre- 
garded. Remember,  -when  thou  lookest  them  in 
the  faces,  when  thou  beholdest  the  assemblies,  that 
they  must  be  converted  or  condemned,  sanctified  on 
earth,  or  tormented  in  hell;  and  that  this  is  the  day: 
jt  must  be  now  or  never. 


NOW    OR    NEVER. 


183 


In  a  word,  apply  this,  quickening  precept  to  all 
the  duties  of  the  Christian  course.  Be  religious, 
and  just,  and  charitable,  in  good  earnest,  if  you 
would  be  taken  for  such  when  you  look  for  the  re- 
ward. "Work  out  your  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling."  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate; 
tor  many  shall  seek  to  enter,  and  shall  not  be  able." 
Many  run,  but  few  receive  the  prize:  so  run  that 
you  may  obtain.  "  If  the  righteous  scarcely  be 
saved,  where  shall  the  ungodly  and  sinner  appear?" 
Let  the  doting  world  deride  your  diligence,  and  set 
themselves  to  hinder  and  afflict  you:  it  will  be  but  a 
little  while  before  experience  change  their  minds, 
and  make  them  talk  differently.  Follow  Christ 
fully:  be  diligent,  and  lose  no  time.  The  Judge  is 
coming.  Let  not  words,  nor  any  thing  that  man 
can  do,  prevail  with  you  to  sit  down,  or  stop  you  in 
a  journey  of  such  importance.  Please  God,  though 
flesh,  and  friends,  and  all  the  world  should  be  dis- 
pleased. Whatever  come  of  your  reputation,  or 
estates,  or  liberties,  or  lives,  be  sure  you  look  to  life 
eternal;  and  cast  not  that,  on  any  hazard,  for  a 
withering  flower,  or  a  pleasant  dream,  or  a  picture  of 
commodity,  or  any  vanity  that  the  Deceiver  can  pre- 
sent. "For  what  shall  it  profit  you,  to  win  the 
world,  and  lose  your  soul  ?"  Obey  God,  though  all 
the  world  forbid  you.  No  power  can  save  you  from 
his  justice;  and  none  of  them  can  deprive  you  of 
his  reward.  Though  you  lose  your  heads,  you  shall 
save  your  crowns;  you  no  way  save  your  lives  so 
certainly,  as  by  such  losing  them.  One  thing  is  ne- 
cessary: do  that  with  speed,  and  care,  and  diligence, 
which  must  be  done,  or  you  are  lost  for  ever.  They 
that  are  now  against  your  much  and  earnest  pray- 
ing, will  shortly  cry  as  loud  themselves  in  vain. 
When  it  is  too  late,  how  fervently  will  they  beg  for 
mercy,  that  now  deride  you  for  valuing  and  seeking 
it  in  time !  But  "  then  they  shall  call  upon  God,  but 
he  will  not  answer;  they  shall  seek  him  early,  but 
shall  not  find  him :  for  that  they  hated  knowledge, 


184  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

and  did  not  choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord:  they  would 
none  of  his  counsel,  hut  despised  all  his  reproof." 
Up,  therefore,  and  work  with  all  thy  might.  Let 
unbelievers  trifle,  that  know  not  that  the  righteous 
God  stands  over  them,  and  know  not  that  they  are 
now  to  work  for  everlasting,  and  know  not  that  hea- 
ven or  hell  is  at  the  end.  Let  them  delay,  and 
laugn,  and  play,  and  dream  away  their  time,  that  are 
drunk  with  prosperity,  and  mad  with  fleshly  lusts 
and  pleasures,  and  have  lost  their  reason  in  the  cares, 
and  delusions,  and  vain-glory  of  the  world.  But 
shall  it  be  so  with  thee,  whose  eyes  are  opened,  who 
seest  the  God,  the  heaven,  the  hell,  which  they  do 
but  hear  of  as  unlikely  things?  Wilt  thou  live 
awake,  as  they  that  are  asleep?  Wilt  thou  do  in 
the  day-light,  as  they  do  in  the  dark?  Shall  free- 
men live  as  Satan's  slaves?  Shall  the  living  lie  as 
still  and  useless  as  the  dead?  "  Work  then  while  it 
is  day;  for  the  night  is  coming,  when  none  can 
work.55 

But  you  will  say,  perhaps,  '  Alas!  what  might 
have  we?  We  have  no  sufficiency  of  ourselves: 
without  Christ  we  can  do  nothing.  And  this  we 
find  when  it  comes  to  the  trial.5 

1.  I  answer,  It  is  not  might  that  is  originally 
thine  own,  that  I  am  calling  thee  to  exercise;  but 
that  which  thou  hast  already  received  from  God, 
and  that  which  he  is  ready  to  bestow.  Use  well 
but  all  the  might  thou  hast,  and  thou  shalt  find  thy 
labour  is  not  in  vain. 

2.  Art  thou  willing  to  use  the  might  thou  hast, 
and  to  have  more,  and  use  it  if  thou  hadst  it?  If 
thou  art,  thou  hast  then  the  strength  of  Christ: 
thou  standest  not,  and  workest  not,  by  thy  own 
strength;  his  promise  is  engaged  to  thee,  and  his 
strength  is  sufficient  for  thee.  But  if  thou  art  not 
willing,  thou  art  without  excuse;  when  thou  hast 
heaven  and  hell  set  open  in  the  word  of  God  to 
make  thee  willing,  God  will  distinguish  thy  wilful- 
ness from  unwilling  weakness. 


NOW    OR    NEVER.  185 

3.  There  is  more  power  in  all  of  you  than  you 
use,  or  than  you  are  well  aware  of.  It  wanteth  but 
awakening  to  bring  it  into  act.  Do  you  not  find,  in 
your  repentings,  that  the  change  is  more  in  your 
will,  than  in  your  power?  And  in  the  awakening 
of  your  will  and  reason  into  act,  than  in  the  addition 
of  mere  abilities?  And  that  therefore  you  befool 
yourselves  for  your  sins  and  your  neglects,  and  won- 
der that  you  had  no  more  use  of  your  understand- 
ings? Let  but  a  storm  at  sea,  or  violent  sickness, 
or  approaching  death,  rouse  up  and  awaken  the 
powers  which  you  have,  and  you  will  find  there  was 
much  more  asleep  in  you  than  you  used. 

I  shall,  therefore,  next  endeavour  to  awaken 
your  abilities,  or  tell  you  how  you  should  awaken 
them. 

When  your  souls  are  drowsy,  and  you  are  forget- 
ting your  God,  and  your  latter  end,  and  matters  of 
eternity  have  little  force  and  favour  with  you,  when 
you  grow  lazy  and  superficial,  and  religion  seems  a 
lifeless  thing,  and  you  do  your  duty  as  if  it  were  in 
vain,  or  against  your  wills;  when  you  can  lose  your 
time,  and  delay  repentance;  and  friends,  and  profit, 
and  reputation,  and  pleasure,  can  be  heard  against 
the  word  of  God,  and  take  you  off;  when  you  do  all 
by  halves,  and  languish  in  your  Christian  course,  as 
near  to  death — stir  up  your  souls  with  the  urgency 
of  such  questions  as  these:1— 

Question  1.  Can  I  do  no  more  than  this  for 
God,  who  gave  me  all,  who  deserveth  all?  Who 
seeth  me  in  my  duties  and  my  sins?  When  he 
puts  me  purposely  on  the  trial,  what  can  1  do  for 
his  sake  and  service?  Can  I  do  no  more?  Can  1 
love  him  no  more,  and  obey,  and  watch,  and  work 


no  more.' 


Question  2.  Can  I  do  no  more  than  this  for 
Christ?  For  him  that  did  so  much  for  me?  That 
obeyed  so  perfectly;  walked  so  meekly;  despising  all 
the  baits,  and  honours,  and  riches  of  the  world  ? 
That  loved  me  to  the  death;  and  offereth  me  freelv 
16 


186  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

all  his  benefits,  and  would  bring  me  to  eternal  glory? 
Are  these  careless,  cold,  and  dull  endeavours,  my 
best  return  for  all  his  mercy? 

Questiori  3.  Can  I  do  no  more,  when  my  salvation 
is  the  prize?  when  heaven  or  hell  depends  upon  it? 
When  1  know  this  beforehand,  and  may  see,  in  the 
glass  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  what  is  prepared  for 
the  diligent  and  the  negligent,  and  Avhat  work  there 
is,  and  will  he  for  ever,  in  heaven  and  hell,  on  these 
accounts?  Could  I  not  do  more,  if  my  house  were 
on  fire,  or  my  estate,  or  life,  or  friend,  in  danger, 
than  I  do  for  my  salvation? 

Question  4.  Can  I  do  no  more  for  the  souls  of 
men;  when  they  are  undone  for  ever  if  they  be  not 
speedily  delivered?  Is  this  my  love  and  compas- 
sion to  my  neighbour,  my  servant,  friend,  or  child? 

Question  5.  Can  I  do  no  more  for  the  Church  of 
God?  for  the  public  good?  for  the  peace  and  wel- 
fare of  the  nation,  and  our  posterity?  in  suppressing 
sin?  in  praying  for  deliverance?  or  in  promoting 
works  of  public  benefit? 

Question  6.  Can  I  do  no  more,  that  have  loit- 
ered so  long?  and  go  no  faster,  that  have  slept  till 
the  evening  of  my  days,  when  diligence  must  be 
the  discovery  of  my  repentance  ? 

Question  7.  Can  I  do  no  more,  that  know  not 
now  but  I  am  doing  my  last?  that  see  how  fast  my 
time  makes  haste,  and  know  I  must  be  quickly 
gone?  that  know  it  must  be  now  or  never. 

Question  8.  Can  I  do  no  better,  when  I  know 
beforehand  what  a  vexatious  and  heart-disquieting 
thing  it  will  then  be,  to  look  back  on  time  as  irre- 
coverably,, lost,  and  on  a  life  of  trial  as  cast  away 
upon  impertinences,  while  the  work  that  we  Jived 
for  lay  undone!  Shall  I  now,  by  trilling,  pre- 
pare such  tormenting  thoughts  for  my  awakened 
conscience? 

Question  9.  Can  I  do  no  more,  when  I  am  sure 
I  cannot  do  too  much,  and  am  sure  there  is  nothing 
else  to  be  preferred  ? 


NOW    OR    NEVER.  137 

Question  10.  Can  I  do  no  more,  that  have  so 
much  help?  that  have  mercies  of  all  sorts  encourag- 
ing me,  and  creatures  attending  me ;  that  have 
health  to  enable  me,  or  affliction  to  remember  and 
excite  me;  that  have  such  a  master,  such  a  work, 
such  a  reward  ?  who  is  less  excusable  for  neglect 
than  I? 

Question  11.  Could  I  do  no  more,  if  I  were  sure 
that  my  salvation  lay  on  this  one  duty?  that,  accord- 
ing to  this  prayer,  it  should  go  with  me  for  ever  ? 
or  if  the  soul  of  my  child,  or  servant,  or  neighbour, 
must  speed  for  ever,  as  my  endeavours  speed  with 
them  now  for  their  conversion?  For  ought  1  know, 
it  may  be  thus. 

By  this  time  you  may  see  what  difference  there 
is  between  the  judgment  of  God  and  of  the  world; 
and  what  to  think  of  the  understandings  of  those 
men,  be  they  high  or  low,  learned  or  unlearned, 
who  hate  or  oppose  this  holy  diligence.  God  bids 
us  love,  and  seek,  and  serve  him,  with  ail  our  heart, 
and  soul,  and  might :  and  these  men  call  them  Zeal- 
ots and  Puritans  that  endeavour  it;  though,  alas! 
they  fall  exceedingly  short,  when  they  have  done 
their  best.  It  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful,  mon- 
strous deformities  that  ever  befell  the  nature  of  man; 
that  men,  learned  men — that  men  who  in  other 
things  are  wise,  should  seriously  think  that  the  ut- 
most diligence  to  obey  the  Lord,  and  save  our  souls, 
is  needless;  and  that  ever  they  should  take  it  for  a 
crime,  and  make  it  a  matter  of  reproach:  that  the 
serious,  diligent  obeying  of  God's  laws,  should  be 
the  matter  of  the  common  disdain  and  hatred  of  the 
world.  It  is  not  in  vain  that  the  Holy  Ghost  saith, 
"  Marvel  not,  my  brethren,  if  the  world  hate  you;" 
implying,  that  we  are  apt  to  marvel  at  it;  as  1  con- 
fess I  have  oft  and  greatly  done.  Methinks,  it  is 
so  wonderful  a  plague  and  stain  in  nature,  that 
it  doth  very  much  to  confirm  me  of  the  truth  of 
Scripture;  of  the  doctrine  of  man's  fall  and  origin- 


183  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

al  sin,  and  the  necessity  of  a  Reconciler,  and  of 
renewing  grace. 

Look  upwards,  sirs,  and.  think  whether  heaven  be 
worth  our  labour.  Look  downwards,  and  think 
whether  earth  be  more  worthy  of  it.  Lay  up  your 
treasures  where  you  must  dwell  for  ever.  If  that 
be  here,  then  scrape,  and  flatter,  and  get  all  that 
you  can :  but  if  it  be  not  here,  but  in  another  life, 
then  hearken  to  your  Lord,  and  lay  up  for  yourselves 
a  treasure  in  heaven,  and  there  let  your  very  hearts 
be  set.  And,  upon  the  peril  of  everlasting  misery, 
hearken  not  to  any  man  that  will  tempt  you  from  a 
diligent  holy  life.  It  is  a  serious  business,  deal  se- 
riously in  it;  and  be  not  laughed  or  mocked  out  of 
heaven. 

All  the  commands,  and  promises,  andthreatenings 
of  God,  the  most  powerful  preaching  that,  as  it  were, 
sets  open  heaven  and  hell,  do  not  prevail  with  fleshly 
men,  to  leave  the  most  sordid  and  unmanly  sin:  and 
shall  the  words  or  frowns  of  creeping  dust  prevail 
with  thee  against  the  work  for  which  thou  livest  in 
the  world,  when  thou  hast  still  at  hand  unanswer- 
able arguments  from  God,  from  thyself,  from  heaven 
and  hell,  to  put  thee  on?  Were  it  but  for  thy  life, 
or  the  life  of  thy  children,  friend,  yea,  or  enemy,  or 
for  the  quenching  of  a  fire  in  thy  house,  or  in  the 
town,  wouldst  thou  not  stir  and  do  thy  best?  And 
wilt  thou  be  idle  when  eternal  life  lies  on  it?  Let 
Satan  roar  against  thee  by  his  instruments.  Let 
sinners  talk  awhile  of  they  know  not  what,  till  God 
hath  made  them  change  their  note.  These  are  not 
matters  for  a  man  to  observe,  that  is  engaged  lor 
an  endless  life.  O  what  are  these  to  the  things  that 
thou  art  called  to  prosecute?  Hold  on  then,  Chris- 
tians, in  the  work  that  you  have  begun.  Do  it  pru- 
dently, and  do  it  universally.  Take  it  together, 
works  of  piety,  justice,  and  charity:  but  do  it  now 
without  delay,  and  do  it  seriously  with  your  might. 
I  know  not  what  cloud  of  darkness  hath  seized  on 


NOW    OR    NEVER.  189 

those  men's  minds  that  speak  against  this,  or  what 
deadly  damp  hath  seized  on  their  hearts,  that  hath 
so  henumbed  and  unmanned  them. 

For  my  own  part,  though  I  have  long  lived  in  a 
sense  of  the  preciousness  of  time,  and  have  not 
been  wholly  idle  in  the  world;  yet,  when  I  have 
the  deepest  thoughts  of  the  great  everlasting  con- 
sequence of  my  work,  and  of  the  uncertainty  and 
shortness  of  my  time,  I  am  even  amazed  to  think 
that  my  heart  can  be  so  slow  and  senseless,  as  to  do 
no  more  in  such  a  case.  The  Lord  knows,  and  my 
conscience  knows,  that  my  slothfulness  is  so  much 
my  shame  and  admiration,  that  I  am  astonished  to 
think  that  my  resolutions  are  no  stronger,  my  affec- 
tions no  livelier,  and  my  labour  and  diligence  no 
greater,  when  God  is  the  commander,  and  his  love 
the  encourager,  and  his  wrath  the  spur,  and  heaven 
or  hell  must  be  the  issue.  O,  what  lives  should  all 
of  us  live,  that  have  things  of  such  unspeakable 
consequence  on  our  hands,  if  our  hearts  were  not 
almost  dead  within  us !  Let  who  will  speak  against 
such  a  life,  it  shall  be  my  daily  grief  and  moan, 
that  I  am  so  dull,  and  do  so  little.  I  know  that 
our  works  do  not  profit  the  Almighty,  nor  bear  any 
proportion  with  his  reward;  nor  can  they  stand  in 
his  sight,  but  as  accepted  in  the  Lord  our  right- 
eousness, and  perfumed  by  the  odour  of  his  merits. 
But  I  know  they  are  necessary,  and  they  are  sweet. 
Without  the  holy  employment  of  our  faculties,  this 
life  will  be  but  a  burden  or  a  dream,  and  the  next 
an  inexpressible  misery.  O,  therefore,  that  I  had 
more  of  the  love  of  God,  that  my  soul  could  get 
but  nearer  to  him,  and  move  more  swiftly  upward 
by  faith  and  love !  O  that  I  had  more  of  holy  life, 
and  active  diligence,  though  I  had  with  it  the  scorns 
of  all  about  me,  and  though  they  made  me,  as  they 
once  did  better  men,  "  as  the  filth  of  the  world,  and 
the  off-scouring  of  all  things!"  O  that  I  had  more 
of  this  derided  diligence,  and  holy  converse  with  the 
Lord,  though  "  my  name  was  cast  out  as  an  evil 


190 


NOW    OR    NEVER. 


doer,"  and  I  were  spit  at  and  buffeted  by  those  that 
do  now  but  secretly  reproach !  Might  I  more  close- 
ly follow  Christ  in  holiness,  why  should  I  grudge  to 
bear  his  cross,  and  to  be  used  as  he  was  used? 
Knowing,  that  "if  we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall  al- 
so reign  with  him;  and  the  sufferings  of  this  present 
time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory 
which  shall  be  revealed  in  us." 

Alas,  sirs!  it  is  nothing  but  intoxicating  pros- 
perity, and  sensual  delights,  and  worldly  diversions, 
that  make  you  think  well  of  ungodly  slothfulness, 
and  make  you  think  contemptuously  of  a  heavenly 
life.  There  is  not  the  boldest  infidel  in  the  world,  nor 
the  bitterest  enemy  to  holiness,  but  shortly  would 
wish  they  had  rather  been  saints,  with  all  the  scorn 
and  cruelty  that  malice  can  inflict  on  such,  than  to 
have  braved  it  out  in  pride  and  gallantry,  with  the 
neglect  of  everlasting  things. 

Methinks  I  even  see  how  you  will  passionately 
rage  against  yourselves,  and  tear  your  hearts  with 
self-revenge,  (if  grace  prevent  it  not  by  a  safe  re- 
pentance,) wnen  you  think  too  late  how  you  lived 
on  earth,  and  wThat  golden  times  of  grace  you  lost, 
and  vilified  all  that  would  not  lose  them  as  foolishly 
as  you.  If  repentance  unto  life  made  St.  Paul  call 
himself  foolish,  disobedient,  deceived,  and  exceeding 
mad,  (Tit.  iii.  3.  Acts  xxvi.  11.)  you  may  imagine 
how  tormenting  repentance  will  make  you  call  your- 
selves too  late. 

O  sirs!  you  cannot  now  conceive,  what  different 
thoughts  will  then  possess  you  of  a  holy  and  unholy 
life.  How  mad  you  will  think  them  that  had  but 
one  life's  time  of  preparation  for  eternal  life,  and 
desperately  neglected  it!  And  how  sensible  you 
will  then  be  of  the  wisdom  of  believers,  that  knew 
their  time,  and  used  it  while  they  had  it !  "Now 
wisdom  is  justified  of  all  her  children;'5  but  then 
how  sensibly  will  it  be  justified  of  all  its  enemies ! 
O,  with  what  remorse  will  undone  souls  look  back 
on  a  life  of  mercy  and  opportunities,  thus  basely 


NOW    OR    NEVER.  191 

undervalued,  and  slept  away  in  dreaming  idleness, 
and  fooled  away  for  things  or  nought ! 

The  language  of  that  rich  man,  Luke  xvi.  may 
help  you  in  your  predictions.  O  how  will  you  won- 
der at  yourselves,  that  ever  you  could  be  so  blind 
and  senseless,  as  to  be  no  more  affected  with  the 
warnings  of  the  Lord,  and  with  the  forethoughts  of 
everlasting  joy  and  misery!  To  have  but  one  small 
part  of  time  to  do  all  that  ever  must  be  done  by 
you  for  eternity,  and  say  all  that  ever  you  must  say, 
ibr  your  own  or  others'  souls,  and  that  this  was  spent 
in  worse  than  nothing !  To  have  but  one  uncertain 
life,  in  which  you  must  run  the  race  that  wins  or 
loses  heaven  for  ever;  and  that  you  should  he  tempted 
with  a  thing  of  nought,  to  lose  that  one  irrecoverable 
opportunity,  and  to  sit  still  or  run  another  way,  when 
you  should  have  been  making  haste  with  all  your 
might!  O  sirs,  the  thoughts  of  this  will  be  other 
kind  of  thoughts  another  day  than  now  you  feel 
them;  you  cannot  now  think  how  the  thoughts  of 
this  will  then  affect  you !  That  you  had  a  time  in 
which  you  might  have  prayed,  with  promise  of  ac- 
ceptance, and  had  no  hearts  to  take  that  time !  That 
Christ  was  offered  to  you  as  well  as  he  was  offered 
to  them  that  entertained  him;  that  you  are  called 
on,  and  warned  as  well  as  they,  but  obstinately  des- 
pised and  neglected  all!  That  life  and  death  were 
set  before  you,  and  the  everlasting  joys  were  offered 
to  your  choice,  against  the  charms  of  sinful  pleasures, 
and  you  might  have  freely  had  them  if  you  would, 
and  Were  told  that  holiness  was  the  only  way,  and 
that  it  must  be  now  or  never,  and  yet  that  you  chose 
your  own  destruction !  These  thoughts  will  be  part 
of  hell  to  the  ungodly.  They  will  wonder  that  rea- 
son could  be  so  unreasonable;  and  that  they,  who 
had  the  common  wit  of  man  in  other  matters,  should 
be  so  far  beside  themselves  in  that  which  is  the  only 
thing  that  is  commendable  to  be  wise  for;  that  such 
reasonings  should  prevail  with  them  against  the 
clearest  light,  and  nothing  should  be  preferred  before 


192  NOW    OR    NEV*.R. 

all  things,  and  arguments  fetched  from  chaff  should 
conquer  those  that  were  fetched  from  heaven !  O 
what  heart-rending  thoughts  will  these  be,  when 
eternity  shall  afford  them  leisure  for  an  impartial 
review ! 

Come  away  speedily  from  the  snares  of  sin- 
ners, and  the  company  of  deceived  hardened  men, 
and  cast  away  the  works  of  darkness.  Heaven  is 
before  you !  Death  is  at  hand !  The  eternal  God 
hath  sent  to  call  you !  Mercy  doth  yet  stretch  forth 
its  arms!  You  have  stayed  too  long,  and  abused 
patience  too  much  already:  stay  no  longer!  O  now 
please  God,  and  comfort  us,  and  save  yourselves, 
by  resolving  that  "  this  shall  be  the  day:"  and  faith- 
fully performing  this  your  resolution,  "  up  and  be 
doing:"  believe,  repent,  desire,  obey,  and  do  all  this 
with  all  your  might;  love  him  that  you  must  love  for 
ever,  and  love  him  with  all  your  soul  and  might;  seek 
that  which  is  truly  worth  seeking,  and  will  pay  for 
all  your  cost  and  pains,  and  seek  it  first  with  all  your 
might,  remembering  still  it  must  be  now  or  never. 
And  now  I  should  conclude,  I  am  loath  to  end, 
for  fear  lest  I  have  not  yet  prevailed  with  you. 
What  are  you  now  resolved  to  do,  from  this  day 
forward  ?  It  is  work  that  we  have  been  speaking 
of,  and  necessary  work  of  endless  consequence, 
which  must  be  done,  and  quickly  done,  and  thorough- 
ly done.  Are  you  not  convinced  that  it  is  so?  that 
ploughing  and  sowing  are  not  more  necessary  to 
your  harvest,  than  the  work  of  holiness  in  this  day 
of  grace  is  necessary  to  your  salvation?  You  are 
blind,  if  ypu  see  not  this:  you  are  dead,  if  you  feel  it 
not:  what  then  will  you  do?  O  hear  the  God  of 
heaven,  if  you  will  not  hear  us,  who  calleth  to  you, 
Return,  and  live !  O  hear  him  that  shed  his  blood 
for  souls,  and  tendereth  you  now  salvation  by  his 
blood!  O  hear  without  any  more  delay,  before  all 
is  gone,  and  you  are  gone,  and  he  that  now  deceiv- 
eth  you,  torment  you !  Yet  hold  on  a  little  longer 
in  a  carnal,  earthly,  unsanctih'ed  state,  and  it  is  too 


NOW   OR    NEVER.  193 

late  to  hope,  or  pray,  or  strive  for  your  salvation. 
Yet  a  little  longer,  and  mercy  will  have  done  with 
you  for  ever;  and  Christ  will  never  invite  you  more, 
nor  ever  offer  to  cleanse  you  by  his  blood;  nor  sanc- 
tify you  by  his  Spirit.  Yet  a  little  longer,  and  you 
shall  never  hear  a  sermon  more,  and  never  more  be 
troubled  with  those  preachers  that  were  in  good  ear- 
nest with  yon,  and  longed  once  for  your  conversion 
and  salvation.  O  sleepy,  dead-hearted  sinners,  what 
should  I  do  to  show  you  how  near  you  stand  to  eter- 
nity, and  what  is  now  doing  in  the  world  that  you 
are  going  to,  and  how  these  things  are  thought  on 
there!  What  should  I  do  to  make  you  know  how 
time  is  valued,  how  sin  and  holiness  are  esteemed  in 
the  world  where  you  must  live  for  ever!  What 
should  I  do  to  make  you  know  those  things  to-day, 
which  I  will  not  thank  you  to  know  when  you  are 
gone  hence !  O  that  the  Lord  would  open  your  eyes 
in  time !  O  that  I  could  but  make  you  know  these 
things  as  believers  should  know  them !  I  say  not  as 
those  that  see  them,  nor  yet  as  dreamers,  that  do 
not  regard  them,  but  as  those  that  believe  that  they 
must  shortly  see  them,  what  a  joyful  hour's  work 
should  I  esteem  this !  how  happy  would  it  be  to  you 
and  me !  If  every  word  were  accompanied  with 
tears;  if  this  sermon  cost  me  as  many  censures  or 
slanders  as  ever  sermon  did,  I  should  not  think  it  too 
dear,  if  I  could  but  help  you  to  such  a  sight  of  the 
things  we  speak  of,  that  you  might  truly  understand 
them  as  they  are:  that  you  had  but  a  true  awakened 
apprehension  of  the  shortness  of  your  day,  of  the 
nearness  of  eternity,  and  of  the  endless  consequence 
of  your  present  work,  and  what  holy  labour  and  sin- 
ful loitering  will  be  thought  of  in  the  world  to  come 
for  ever.  But  when  we  see  you  sin,  and  trifle,  and 
no  more  regard  your  endless  life,  and  see  also  what 
haste  your  time  is  making,  and  yet  cannot  make  you 
understand  these  things;  when  we  know  ourselves 
as  sure  as  we  speak  to  tju,  that  you  will  shortly  be 
astonished  at  the  review  of  your  present  sloth  and 
17 


194  NOW   OR    NEVER 

folly,  and  when  we  know  that  these  matters  are  not 
thought  of  in  another  world,  as  they  are  among 
sleepy  sinners  here,  and  yet  know  not  how  to  make 
you  know  it,  whom  it  doth  so  exceedingly  much 
concern,  this  amazeth  us,  and  almost  breaks  our 
hearts,  lea,  when  we  tell  you  of  things  that  are 
past  doubt,  and  can  be  no  further  matter  of  contro- 
versy, than  men  have  sold  their  understandings,  and 
betrayed  their  reason  to  their  sordid  lusts,  and  yet 
we  cannot  get  reasonable  men  to  know  that  which 
they  cannot  choose  but  know,  to  know  that  serious- 
ly and  practically  which  always  hath  a  witness  in 
their  breasts,  and  which  none  but  the  profligate  dare 
deny;  this,  even  this,  is  worse  than  a  prison  to  us. 
It  is  you  that  are  our  persecutors;  it  is  you  that  are 
the  daily  sorrow  of  our  hearts;  it  is  you  that  disap- 
point us  of  our  hopes,  and  make  us  lose  so  much  of 
the  labour  of  our  lives. 

Sinners,  whatever  the  devil  and  raging  passion 
may  say  against  a  holy  life,  God  and  your  own  con- 
sciences shall  be  our  witnesses,  that  we  desired 
nothing  unreasonable,  or  unnecessary  at  your  hands. 

The  question  that  I  am  putting  to  you,  is  not 
whether  you  will  be  for  this  form  of  church-govern- 
ment, or  fbr  that;  but  it  is,  whether  you  will  heark- 
en in  time  to  God  and  conscience,  and  be  as  busy  to 
provide  fbr  heaven,  as  ever  you  have  been  to  pro- 
vide for  earth?  It  is  godliness,  serious  and  practical 
godliness,  that  thou  art  called  to.  It  is  nothing  but 
what  all  Christians  in  the  world  are  agreed  in. 
That  1  may  not  leave  thee  in  any  darkness  which  I 
can  deliver  thee  from,  I  will  tell  thee  distinctly, 
though  succinctly,  what  it  is  that  thou  art  thus  im- 
portuned to;  and  tell  me,  then,  whether  it  be  that 
which  any  Christian  can  make  doubt  of. 

1.  That  which  I  entreat  of  thee,  is  but  to  live 
as  one  that  verily  believeth  there  is  a  God;  and  that 
this  God  is  the  Creator,  the  Lord  and  Ruler  of  the 
world:  and  that  it  is  incomparably  more  our  business 
to  understand  and  obey  nis  laws,  and  as  faithful 
subjects  to  be  conformed  to  them,  than  to  observe 


NOW   OR    NEVER.  195 

or  be  conformed  to  the  laws  of  man:  and  to  live  as 
men  that  do  believe  that  this  God  is  Almighty,  and 
that  the  greatest  of  men  are  less  than  crawling 
worms  to  him;  and  that  he  is  infinitely  wise,  and  the 
wisdom  of  man  is  foolishness  to  him;  and  that  he  is 
"infinitely  good  and  amiable;  that  his  love  is  the  only 
felicity  of  man;  and  that  none  are  happy  but  those 
that  do  enjoy  it;  and  none  that  do  enjoy  it  can  be 
miserable;  and  that  riches,  and  honour,  and  fleshly 
delights  are  brutish  vanities  in  comparison  of  the 
eternal  love  of  God.  Live  but  as  men  that  heartily 
believe  all  this,  and  I  have  that  I  come  for;  and  is 
any  of  this  a  matter  of  controversy  or  doubt?  Not 
among  Christians  I  am  sure:  not  among  wise  men. 
It  is  no  doubt  to  those  in  heaven,  nor  to  those  in 
hell,  nor  to  those  that  have  not  lost  their  under- 
standings upon  earth.  Live  then  according  to  these 
truths. 

2.  Live  as  men  that  verily  believe  that  mankind 
is  fallen  into  sin  and  misery;  and  that  all  men  are 
corrupted,  and  under  the  condemnation  of  the  law 
of  God,  till  they  are  delivered,  pardoned,  reconciled 
to  God,  and  made  new  creatures,  by  a  renewing, 
restoring,  sanctifying  change.  Live  but  as  men 
that  believe  that  this  cure  must  be  wrought,  and  this 
great  restoring  change  must  be  made  upon  ourselves, 
if  it  be  not  done  already.  Live  as  men  that  have 
so  great  a  work  to  look  after;  and  is  this  a  matter  of 
any  doubt  or  controversy?  Sure  it  is  not  to  a  Chris- 
tian: and  methinks  it  should  not  be  to  any  man  else 
that  knoweth  himself,  any  more  than  to  a  man  in  a 
dropsy,  whether  he  be  diseased,  when  he  feels  the 
thirst  and  sees  the  swelling.  Did  you  but  know 
what  cures  and  changes  are  necessarily  to  be  made 
upon  your  diseased  miserable  souls,  if  you  care 
what  becomes  of  them,  you  would  soon  see  cause  to 
look  about  you. 

3.  Live  but  as  men  that  verily  believe  that  the 
Son  of  God,  hath  suffered  for  your  sins,,and  brought 
you  the  tidings  of  pardon  and  salvation,  which  you 
may  have,  if  you  will  give  up  yourselves  to  him 


196  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

who  is  the  Physician  of  souls,  to  be  healed  by  him. 
Live  as  men  that  believe  that  the  infinite  love  of 
God,  revealed  to  lost  mankind  in  the  Redeemer,  doth 
bind  us  to  Jove  .him  with  all  our  hearts,  and  serve 
him  with  all  our  restored  faculties,  and  to  work  as 
those  that  have  the  greatest  thankfulness  to  show, 
as  well  as  the  greatest  mercies  to  receive,  and  mis- 
ery to  escape:  and  as  those  that  believe,  that  if  sin- 
ners that,  without  Christ,  had  not  hope,  shall  now 
love  their  sins  and  refuse  to  leave  them,  and  to 
repent  and  be  converted,  and  unthankfully  reject 
the  mercy  of  salvation  so  dearly  bought,  and  freely 
offered  them,  their  damnation  will  be  doubled  as 
their  sin  is  doubled. 

Live  but  as  men  that  have  such  redemption  to 
admire,  such  mercy  to  entertain,  and  such  a  salva- 
tion to  attain,  and  that  are  sure  they  can  never 
escape  if  they  continue  to  "  neglect  so  great  salva- 
tion.33 And  is  there  any  controversy  among  Chris- 
tians in  any  of  this  ?     There  is  not,  certainly. 

4.  Live  but  as  men  that  believe  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  given  by  Jesus  Christ  to  convert,  to  quick- 
en, and  to  sanctify  all  that  he  will  save;  that 
"  except  you  be  born  again  of  the  Spirit,  you  shall 
not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven;33  and  that 
"  if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  the  same 
is  none  of  his;33  and  that  without  this,  no  mending 
of  your  lives,  by  any  common  principles,  will  serve 
the  turn  for  your  salvation,  or  make  you  acceptable 
to  God.  Live  as  men  that  believe  that  this  Spirit 
is  given  by  the  hearing  of  the  word  of  God,  and 
must  be  prayed  for,  and  obeyed,  and  not  resisted, 
quenched,  and  grieved.  And  is  there  any  contro- 
versy among  Christians  in  any  of  this? 

5.  Live  but  as  men  that  believe  that  sin  is  the 
greatest  evil,  the  thing  which  the  holy  God  abhor- 
reth;  and  then  you  will  never  make  a  mock  of  it,  as 
Solomon  saith  the  foolish  do;  nor  say,  What  harm 
is  in  it? 

6.  Live  but  as  men  that  believe  no  sin  is  pardon- 
ed without  repentance;  and  that  repentance  is  the 


NOW    OR   NEVER.  197 

loathing  and  forsaking  of  sin:  and  that  if  it  be 
true,  it  will  not  suffer  you  to  live  in  any  sin,  nor  to 
desire  to  keep  the  least  infirmity,  nor  to  be  loath  to 
know  your  unknown  sins. 

7.  Live  as  those  that  believe  that  you  are  to  be 
members  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  therein 
co  hold  the  communion  of  saints.  And  then  you 
will  know  that  it  is  not  as  a  member  of  any  sect  or 
party,  but  as  a  holy  member  of  this  holy  church, 
that  you  must  be  saved :  and  that  it  is  the  name  of 
a  Christian,  which  is  more  honourable  than  the  name 
of  any  division,  or  subdivision  among  Christians. 

8.  Live  as  those  that  believe  that  there  is  a  life 
everlasting,  where  the  sanctified  shall  live  in  endless 
joy,  and  the  unsanctified  in  endless  punishment  and 
wo :  live  but  as  men  that  verily  believe  a  heaven 
and  a  hell,  and  a  day  of  judgment,  in  which  all  the 
actions  of  this  life  must  be  revised,  and  all  men 
judged  to  their  endless  state.  Believe  these  things 
heartily,  and  then  think  a  holy  diligence  needless  if 
you  can.  Then  be  of  the  mind  of  the  deriders  and 
enemies  of  godliness  if  you  can.  If  one  sight  of 
heaven  or  hell  would  serve  without  any  more  ado, 
instead  of  other  arguments,  to  confute  all  the  cavils 
of  the  distracted  world,  and  to  justify  the  most  dili- 
gent saints  in  the  judgment  of  those  that  now  abhor 
them,  why  should  not  a  sound  belief  of  the  same 
thing  in  its  measure  do  the  same? 

9.  Live  but  as  those  that  believe  this  life  is  given 
us  as  the  only  time  to  make  preparation  for  eternal 
life:  and  that  all  that  ever  shall  be  done  for  your  sal- 
vation, must  be  now,  just  now,  before  your  time  is 
ended:  live  as  those  that  know,  and  need  not  faith 
to  tell  them,  that  this  time  is  short,  and  almost  at  an 
end  already,  and  stayeth  for  no  man,  but,  as  a  post, 
doth  haste  away.  It  will  not  stay  while  you  are 
taken  up  at  stage  plays,  in  compliments,  in  idle 
visits,  or  any  impertinent,  needless  things:  it  will 
not  tarry  while  you  spend  yet  the  other  year,  or 
month,  or  day,  in  your  worldliness,  or  ambition,  or 
in  your  lusts  and  sensual  delights,  and  put  off  your 


198  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

repentance  to  another  time.  O  sirs,  for  the  Lord's 
sake,  do  but  live  as  men  that  must  shortly  be  buried 
in  the  grave,  and  their  souls  appear  before  the  Lord, 
and  as  men  that  have  but  this  little  time  to  do  all 
*br  their  everlasting  life,  that  ever  must  be  done. 
O  live  as  men  that  are  sure  to  die,  and  are  not  sure 
xo  live  till  to-morrow:  and  let  not  the  noise  of 
pleasure  or  worldly  business,  or  the  chat  or  scorns 
of  miserable  fools,  bear  down  your  reason,  and  make 
you  live  as  if  you  knew  not  what  you  know;  or  as 
if  there  was  any  doubt  about  these  things.  Who 
is  the  man  and  what  is  his  name,  that  dares  contra- 
dict them,  and  can  make  it  good?  O  do  not  sin 
against  your  knowledge:  do  not  stand  still  and 
see  your  glass  running,  and  time  making  such  haste, 
and  yet  make  no  more  haste  yourselves,  than  if  you 
were  not  concerned  in  it :  do  not,  O  do  not  slum- 
ber, when  time  and  judgment  never  slumber;  nor 
sit  still  when  you  have  so  much  to  do,  and  know  all 
that  is  now  left  undone  must  be  undone  for  ever ! 
Alas,  sirs,  how  many  questions  of  exceeding  weight 
have  you  yet  to  be  resolved  in!  whether  you  are 
truly  sanctified?  whether  your  sins  be  pardoned? 
whether  you  shall  be  saved  when  you  die  ?  whether 
you  are  ready  to  leave  this  world  and  enter  upon 
another?  I  tell  you,  the  answering  of  these  and 
many  more  such  questions,  is  a  matter  of  no  small 
difficulty  or  concern.  And  all  these  must  be  done 
in  this  little  and  uncertain  time.  It  must  be  now 
or  never.  Live  but  as  men  that  believe  and  con- 
sider these  certain  unquestionable  things. 

10.  Lastly,  Will  you  but  live  as  men  that  be- 
lieve that  the  world  and  the  flesh  are  the  deadly 
enemies  of  your  salvation?  and  that  believe,  that 
"  if  any  man  love  the  world,  (so  far)  the  love  of  the 
Father  is  not  in  him?"  and  as  men  that  believe 
that,  "if ye  live  after  the  flesh  ye  shall  die;  but  if 
by  the  Spirit  ye  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye 
shall  live; "  and  that  those  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus, 
and  are  freed  from  condenmat  ion,  are  such  as  "  walk 
not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit?  "     And  that 


NOW    OR    NEVER.  199 

we  must  "  make  no  provision  for  the  flesh  to  satisfy 
the  will  or  lusts  thereof; "  and  must  not  "  walk  in 
gluttony  and  drunkenness,  in  chambering  and  wan 
tonness,  in  strife  and  envying,"  but  must  "  have  our 
hearts  where  our  treasure  is,"  and  our  conversation 
in  heaven;  and  being  risen  with  Christ,  must  seek 
the  things  that  are  above,  and  set  our  affections  on 
them,  and  not  on  the  things  that  are  on  earth. 

Sirs,  will  you  say  that  any  of  this  is  our  singular 
opinion,  or  matter  of  controversy  and  doubt?  Are 
not  all  Christians  agreed  in  it?  Do  you  not,  your 
ownselves  profess  that  you  believe  it?  Live  then 
but  as  those  that  do  believe  it,  and  condemn  not 
yourselves  in  the  things  that  you  confess. 

I  have  done  my  part  to  open  to  you  the  necessity 
of  serious  diligence,  and  to  call  up  the  sluggish  souls 
of  sinners  to  mind  the  work  of  their  salvation,  and 
to  do  it  speedily,  and  with  all  their  might.  I  must 
now  leave  the  success  to  God  and  you.  What  use 
you  will  make  of  it,  and  what  you  will  be  and  do 
for  the  time  to  come,  is  a  matter  that  more  concern- 
eth  yourselves  than  me. 

Sirs,  the  matter  is  now  laid  before  you.  What 
will  you  now  do  ?  Have  I  convinced  you  now,  that 
God  and  your  salvation  are  to  be  sought  with  all 
your  might?  If  I  have  not,  it  is  not  for  want  of  evi- 
dence in  what,  is  said,  but  for  want  of  willingness  in 
yourselves  to  know  the  truth. 

It  is  wonderful,  to  think  that  learned  men,  and 
gentlemen,  and  men,  that  pretend  to  reason  and  in- 
genuity, can  quietly  betray  their  souls,  and  do  the 
evil  that  they  have  no  more  to  say  for,  and  neglect, 
that  duty  that  they  have  no  more  to  say  agains', 
when  they  know  they  must  do  it  now  or  never. 
That  while  they  confess  that  there  is  a  God,  an/  a 
life  to  come,  a  heaven  and  a  hell,  and  that  this  life 
is  purposely  given  us  lor  preparation  for  eternity, 
while  they  confess  that  God  is  most  wise,  and  holy, 
and  good,  and  just,  and  that  sin  is  the  greatest  evil, 
and  that  the  word  of  God  is  true,  they  can  yet  make 
shift  to  quiet  themselves  in  an  unholy,  sensual,  care- 


200  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

less  lif  j;  and  that  while  they  honour  the  apostles 
and  martyrs,  and  saints  that  are  dead  and  gone,  they 
hate  t  leir  successors  and  imitators,  and  the  lives 
that  tl  ey  lived. 

Alas !  all  this  comes  from  the  want  of  a  sound 
belief  f  the  things  which  they  never  saw;  and  the 
distance  of  those  things,  and  the  power  of  passion, 
and  sensual  objects  and  inclinations,  that  hurry  them 
away  after  present  vanities,  and  conquer  reason,  and 
rob  them  of  their  humanity;  and  from  the  noise  of 
the  company  of  sensual  sinners,  that  harden  and 
deafen  one  another,  and  by  the  just  judgment  of  God 
forsaking  those  that  would  not  know  him,  and  leav- 
ing them  to  the  blindness  and  hardness  of  their 
hearts.  But  is  there  no  remedy?  O  Thou,  the 
Fountain  of  mercy  and  relief,  vouchsafe  these  mise- 
rable sinners  a  remedy !  O  Thou,  the  Saviour  of  lost 
mankind,  have  mercy  upon  these  sinners  in  the  depth 
of  their  security,  presumption,  and  misery!  O  Thou, 
the  Illuminator  and  Sanctifier  of  souls,  apply  the 
remedy  so  dearly  purchased ! 

Poor  sleepy  sinners,  hear  us !  Though  we  speak 
not  to  you  as  men  would  do  that  had  seen  heaven 
and  hell;  and  were  themselves  in  a  perfectly  awak- 
ened frame,  yet  hear  us  while  we  speak  to  you  the 
words  of  truth,  with  some  seriousness,  and  com- 
passionate desire  for  your  salvation.  O  look  up  to 
your  God !  Look  out  unto  eternity :  Look  inwardly 
upon  your  souls:  Look  wisely  upon  your  short  and 
hasty  time:  and  then  bethink  you  how  the  little 
remnant  of  your  time  should  be  employed;  and  what 
it  is  that  most  concerneth  you  to  despatch  and  secure 
before  you  die.  Now  you  have  sermons,  and  books, 
and  warnings:  it  will  not  be  so  long.  Preachers 
must  have  done:  God  threateneth  them,  and  death 
threateneth  them,  and  men  threaten  them,  and  it  is 
you,  it  is  you  that  are  most  severely  threatened,  and 
that  are  called  on  by  God's  warnings.  "  If  any 
man  have  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear."  Now  you 
have  abundance  of  private  helps,  you  have  abun- 
dance of  understanding  gracious  companions;  yor 


NOW    OR    NEVER.  201 

have  the  Lord's  day  to  spend  iR  holy  exercises,  fo* 
the  edification  and  solace  of  your  souls ;  you  have 
choice  of  sound  and  serious  books :  O  what  invalu- 
able mercies  are  all  these !  O  know  your  time,  and 
use  these  with  industry,  and  improve  this  harvest 
for  your  souls!  For  it  will  not  be  thus  always:  it 
must  be  now  or  never.  You  have  yet  time  and 
leave  to  pray  and  cry  to  God  in  hope :  yet  if  you 
have  hearts  and  tongues,  he  hath  a  hearing  ear;  the 
Spirit  of  grace  is  ready  to  assist  you.  It  will  not  be 
thus  always :  the  time  is  coming  when  the  loudest 
cries  will  do  no  good.  O  pray,  pray,  pray,  poor 
need}'-  miserable  sinners;  for  it  must  be  now  or  never. 

You  have  yet  health  and  strength,  and  bodies  fit 
to  serve  your  souls:  it  will  not  be  so  always:  lan- 
guishing, and  pains,  and  death  are  coming.  O  use 
your  health  and  strength  for  God;  for  it  must  be 
wow  or  never. 

Yet  there  are  some  stirrings  of  conviction  in  your 
consciences:  you  find  that  all  is  not  well  with  you; 
and  you  have  some  thoughts  or  purposes  to  repent 
and  be  new  creatures.  There  is  some  hope  in  this, 
that  yet  God  hath  not  quite  forsaken  you.  O  trifle 
not,  and  stifle  not  the  convictions  of  your  conscien- 
ces, but  hearken  to  the  witness  of  God  within  you. 
It  must  be  now  or  never. 

Would  you  not  be  loath  to  be  left  to  the  despair- 
ing case  of  many  poor  distressed  souls,  that  cry  out, 
4  O  it  is  now  too  late!  I  fear  my  day  of  grace  is  past; 
God  will  not  hear  me  now  if  I  should  call  upon  him : 
he  hath  forsaken  me,  and  given  me  over  to  myself. 
It  is  too  late  to  repent,  too  late  to  pray,  too  late  to 
think  of  a  new  life;  all  is  too  late.'  This  case  is  sad; 
but  yet  many  of  these  are  in  a  safer  and  better  case 
than  they  imagine,  and  are  but  frightened  by  the 
Tempter :  and  it  is  not  too  late,  while  they  cry  out, 
'It  is  too  late;'  but  if  you  are  left  to  cry  in  hell,  '  It 
is  too  late;'  alas,  how  long  and  how  doleful  a  cry 
and  lamentation  will  it  be ! 

O  consider,  poor  sinner,  that  God  knoweth  the 
time  and  season  of  thy  mercies.     He   giveth  the 


202  NOW    OR    NEVER. 

spring  and  harvest  in  their  season;  and  all  his  mer- 
cies in  their  season,  and  wilt  thou  not  know  thy  time 
and  season,  or  love,  and  duty,  and  thanks  to  him? 
Consider  that  God,  who  hath  commanded  thee 
thy  work,  hath  also  appointed  thee  thy  time.  And 
this  is  his  appointed  time.  To-day,  therefore,  heark- 
en to  his  voice,  and  see  that  thou  harden  not  thy 
heart.  He  that  bids  thee  "  repent  and  work  out 
thy  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,55  doth  also  bid 
thee  do  it  now.  Obey  him  in  the  time,  if  thou  wilt 
be  indeed  obedient;  he  best  understand eth  the  fit- 
test time.  One  would  think  to  men  that  have  lost 
so  much  already,  and  loitered  so  long,  and  are  so 
lamentably  behind  hand,  and  stand  so  near  the  bar 
of  God,  and  their  everlasting  state,  there  should  be 
no  need  to  say  any  more,  to  persuade  them  to  be  up 
and  doing.  I  shall  add  but  this:  'You  are  never 
like  to  have  a  better  time.5  Take  this,  or  the  work 
will  grow  more  difficult,  more  doubtful,  if  through 
the  just  judgment  of  God,  it  become  not  desperate. 
If  all  this  will  not  serve,  but  still  you  will  loiter  till 
time  be  gone,  what  can  your  poor  friends  do  but 
lament  your  misery!  The  Lord  knows,  if  we  knew 
what  words,  what  pains,  what  cost  would  tend  to 
your  awakening,  and  conversion,  and  salvation,  we 
should  be  glad  to  submit  to  it:  and  we  hope  we 
should  not  think  our  labours,  or  liberties,  or  our 
lives  too  dear  to  promote  so  blessed  and  so  necessary 
a  work.  But  if  when  all  this  is  done  that  we  can 
do,  you  will  leave  us  nothing  but  our  tears  and 
moans  for  self-destroyers,  the  sin  is  yours,  and  the 
suffering  shall  be  yours.  If  I  can  do  no  more,  I 
shall  leave  this  upon  record,  that  we  took  our  time 
to  tell  you,  that  serious  diligence  is  necessary  to 
your  salvation;  and  that  God  is  the  "  Rewarder  of 
them  that  diligently  seek  him,55  and  that  this  was 
your  day,  your  only  day.     It  must  be  now  or  never , 


FIFTY   REASONS 

WHY  A  SINNER  OUGHT  TO  TURN  TO  GOD 
WITHOUT  DELAY. 

[With  some  abridgement.] 


HEBREWS  III.  7,  8. 

To-day t  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your 

hearts. 

1  ^Consider  to  whom  it  is  that  you  are  com- 
manded to  turn ;  and  then  Aei\  me  whether  there 
can  be  any  reason  for  delayer  It  is  not  to  an  empty 
deceitful  creature,  but  to  the  faithful  all-sufficient 
God;  to  Him  that  is  the  cause  of  all  things;  the 
strength   of  the  creation;  the  joy  of  angels;   the 
felicity  of  the  saints;  the  sun  and  shield  of  all  the  £ 
righteous;   the  refuge  ofthe  distressed;   and  the^jj 
glory  of  the  whole  world^jfcf  such  power,  that  his   r 
word  can  take  down  the  sun  from  the  firmament, 
and  turn  the  earth  and  all  things  into  nothing;  for 
he  doth  more  in  giving  them  their  being  and  con- 
tinuance: of  such  wisdom,  that  he  was  never  guilty 
of  mistake;  and  therefore  will  not  mislead  you,  nor 
draw  you  to  any  thing  that  is  not  for  the  best:  of  v 
such  goodness,  as  that  evil  cannot  stand  in  his  sight,  / 
and  nothing  but  your  evil  could  make  him  displeas-  p 
ed  with  you;  and  it  is  from, nothing  but  evil,  that  he 


* 


V 


204  FIFTY    REASONS. 

calleth  you  to  turn.  It  is  not  to  a  malicious  ene- 
my, that  would  do  you  mischief,  but  to  a  gracious 
God,  that  is  love  itself;  not  to  an  implacable  jus- 
tice, but  to  a  reconciled  Father;  not  to  revenging 
indignation,  but  to  the  embrace  of  those  arms,  and 
the  mercy  of  that  compassionate  Lord,  that  is 
enough  to  melt  the  hardest  heart,  when  you  find 
yourself,  as  the  poor  returning  prodigal,  in  his  bo- 
som, when  you  deserved  to  have  been  under  his 
feet.  And  will  the. great  and  blessed^GoiL  in\dte 
thee  to  his  favour^  and  wilt  thou  delav  and_denmr 
upon  the  return?  The  greatest  of  the  angels  of 
('(heaven  are  glad  of  his  favour,  and  value  no  happi- 
jness  but  the  light  of  his  countenance.  Heaven 
^and  earth  are  supported  by.hkn,  and  nothing  can 
/stand  without  him.     How  glad  would  those  very 

I'  devils  be  of  his  favour,  that  tempt  thee  to  neglect 
his  favour !  And  wilt  thou  delay  to  turn  to  such  a 
God?  Why,  man,  thou  art  every  minute  at  his 
mercy.  And  yet  dost  thou  delay?  There  are  all 
"^things  imaginable  in  him  to  draw  thee.  There  is 
nothing  that  is  good  fbr  thee,  but  it  is  perfectly  in 
him,  where  thou  mayst  have  it  certain  and  perpet- 
ual. There  is  nothing  in  him  to  give  the  least  dis- 
couragement: let  all  the  devils  in  hell,  and  all  the 
enemies  of  God  on  earth,  say  the  worst  they  can 
against  his  majesty,  and  they  are  not  able  to  find 
the  smallest  blemish  in  his  absolute  holiness,  and 
wisdom,  and  goodness.  And  yet  wilt  thou  delay 
to  return? 

2.  Consider  also,  to  what  it  is  that  thou  must 
turn.  Not  to  uncleanness,  but  to  holiness;  not  to 
the  sensual  life  of  a  beast,  but  to  the  noble  rational 
life  of  a  man,  and  the  more  noble  heavenly  life  of 
a  Christian;  not  to  an  unprofitable  worldly  toil,  but 
to  the  most  gainful  employment  that  ever  the  sons 
of  men  were  acq uainted  with;  not  to  the  deceitful 
drudgery  of  sin,  but  to  that  godliness  which  is  pro- 
fitable to  all  things,  "  having  the  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  and   of  that  which  is   to  come' 


FIFTY   REASONS.  205 

Sirs,  do  you  know  what  a  life  of  holiness  is  ?  You 
do  not  know  it,  if  you  turn  away  from  it.  I  am 
sure,  if  you  knew  it  you  would  never  fly  from  it. 
No,  norendure  to  live  without  it.  Why,  a  life  of 
holiness  is  nothing  but  living  unto  God;  to  be  con- 
versant with  him,  as  the  wicked  are  with  the  world; 
and  to  be  devoted  to  his  service,  as  sensualists  are 
to  the  flesh.  It  is  to  live  in  the  love  of  God,  and 
of  our  Redeemer;  and  in  the  foretastes  of  his  ever- 
lasting glory,  and  of  his  love;  and  in  the  sweet  fore- 
thoughts of  that  blessed  life  that  shall  never  end; 
and  in  the  honest  self-denying  course  that  leadeth 
to  that  blessedness.  A  godly  life  is  nothing  else 
but  a  sowing  the  seed  of  heaven  on  earth;  and  a 
learning,  in  the  school  of  Christ,  the  songs  of  praise 
which  we  must  use  before  the  throne  of  God;  and 
by  suffering, — a  learning  how  to  triumph  and  reign 
with  Christ. 

Can  you  delay  to  come  into  your  Father's  fa- 
mily; into  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord;  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth;  to  be  "  fellow-citizens 
of  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God;"  to 
have  the  pardon  of  all  your  sms,  and  the  sealed  pro- 
mise of  everlasting  glory  ?  Why,  sirs,  when  you 
are  called  on  to  turn,  you  are  called  to  the  porch  of 
heaven,  into  the  beginning  of  salvation;  and  will 
you  delay  to  accept  everlasting  life? 

3.  Consider  also,  From  what  you  are  called  to 
turn;  and  then  judge  whether  there  be  any  reason 
of  delay.  It  is  from  the  devil,  your  enemy;  from 
the  love  of  a  deceitful  world;  from  the  seductions  of 
corrupted  brutish  flesh;  it  is  from  sin  the  greatest 
evil.  What  is  there  in  sin  that  you  should  delay  to 
part  with  it?  Is  there  any  good  in  it?  Or  what 
hath  it  ever  done  for  you  that  you  should  love  it? 
Did  it  ever  do  you  good  ?  Or  did  it  ever  do  any 
man  good  ?  It  is  the  deadly  enemy  of  Christ  and 
you,  that  caused  his  death,  and  will  cause  yours, 
and  is  working  for  your  condemnation,  if  converting 
and  pardoning  grace. prevent  it  not.     And  are  you 


206  FIFTY   REASONS. 

loath  to  leave  it  ?  It  is  the  cause  of  all  the  miseries 
of  the  world,  of  all  the  sorrows  that  ever  did  befall 
you,  and  the  cause  of  the  damnation  of  them  that 
perish;  and  do  you  delay  to  part  with  it? 

4.  Your  delaying  shows  that  you  love  not  God, 
and  that  you  prefer  your  sin  before  him,  and  thai 
you  would  never  part  with  it  if  you  could  have  your 
will.  For  if  you  loved  God,  you  would  long  to  be 
restored  to  his  favour,  and  to  be  near  him,  and  em- 
ployed in  his  service  and  his  family.  Love  is  quick 
and  diligent,  and  will  not  draw  back.  And  it  is  a 
sign  also  that  you  are  in  love  with  sin:  for  else, 
why  should  you  be  so  loath  to  leave  it?  He  that 
would  not  leave  his  sin  and  turn  to  God,  till  the 
next  week,  or  the  next  month,  or  year,  would  never 
turn  if  he  might  have  his  desire.  For  that  which 
makes  you  desirous  to  stay  a  day  or  a  week  longer, 
doth  indeed  make  you  loath  to  turn  at  all.  And 
therefore  it  is  but  hypocrisy  to  say,  that  you  are 
willing  to  turn  hereafter,  if  you  are  not  willing  to  do 
it  now  without  delay. 

5.  Consider,  what  a  case  you  are  in,  while  you 
thus  delay?  Do  you  think  you  stand  in  a  safe 
condition?  If  you  knew  where  you  are,  you  would 
sit  as  upon  thorns  as  long  as  you  are  unconverted; 
you  would  be  as  a  man  that  stood  up  to  the  knees  in 
the  sea,  and  saw  the  tide  coming  towards  him,  who 
certainly  would  think  that  there  is  no  standing  still 
in  such  a  place.  You  have  all  your  sin  unpardoned; 
you  are  under  the  curse  of  the  law;  the  wrath  of 
God  is  upon  you,  and  the  fulness  of  it  hangs  over 
your  heads;  judgment  is  coming  to  pass  upon  you 
the  dreadful  doom;  the  Lord  is  at  hand;  death  is  at 
the  door,  and  waits  but  for  the  word  from  the 
mouth  of  God,  that  it  may  arrest  you,  and  bring 

l  you  to  everlasting  misery:  and  is  this  a  state  for  a 
k>C\man  to  continue  in? 

6.  Moreover,  Your  delaying  giveth  great  advan- 
tage to  the  Tempter.  If  you  would  presently  turn 
and  forsake  your  sins,  and  enter  into  a  faithful  cove- 


FIFTY   REASONS.  207 

nanl  with  God,  the  devil  would  be  almost  out  of 
hope,  and  the  very  heart  of  his  temptations  would  be 
broken.  He  would  see  that  now  it  is  too  late; 
there  is  no  getting  you  out  of  the  arms  of  Christ. 
But  as  long  as  you  delay,  you  keep  him  in  heart  and 
hope;  he  hath  time  to  strengthen  his  prison  and 
fetters,  and  to  renew  his  snares;  and  if  one  temp- 
tation serve  not,  he  hath  time  to  try  another  and 
another;  as  if  you  would  stand  as  a  mark  for  Satan 
to  shoot  at,  as  long  as  he  pleases.  What  likelihood 
is  there  that  ever  so  foolish  a  sinner  should  be  re- 
covered and  saved  from  his  sin  ? 

7.  Moreover,  Your  delaying  is  a  vile  abuse  of 
Christ  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  may  so  far  provoke 
him,  as  to  leave  you  to  yourself,  and  then  you  are 
past  help.  If  you  delight  so  to  trample  on  your 
crucified  Lord,  and  will  so  long  put  him  to  it  by  re- 
fusing his  grace  and  grieving  his  Spirit,  what  can 
you  expect  but  that  he  should  turn  away  in  wrath, 
and  utterly  forsake  you. 

8.  Consider  also,  I  beseech  you,  If  you  ever 
mean  to  turn,  what  it  is  that  you  stay  for.  Do 
you  think  to  bring  down  Christ  and  heaven  to  your 
own  terms,  and  to  be  saved  hereafter  with  less  ado  ? 
Sure,  you  cannot  be  so  foolish:  for  God  will  be 
still  the  same;  and  Christ  the  same;  and  his  pro- 
mise hath  still  the  same  condition,  which  he  will 
never  change;  and  godliness  will  be  the  same,  and 
as  much  against  your  carnal  interest  hereafter  as  it 
is  now.  When  you  have  looked  about  you  ever  so 
long,  you  will  never  find  a  fairer  or  nearer  way;  but 
this  same  way  you  must  go  or  perish.  If  you  can- 
not leave  sin  now,  how  shall  you  leave  it  then  ?  It 
will  still  be  as  sweet  to  your  flesh  as  now:  or  if  one 
grow  stale  by  the  decay  of  nature,  another  that  is 
worse  will  spring  up  in  its  stead,  and  though  the  acts 
abate,  they  will  all  live  still  at  the  root;  for  sin  was 
never  mortified  by  age.  So  that  if  ever  you  wili 
ti^n,  you  may  best  turn  now. 


208  FIFTY   REASONS. 

9.  Yea,  more  than  that,  the  longer  you  stay,  the 
harder  it  will  be.  If  it  be  hard  to-day,  it  is  like  to 
be  harder  to-morrow.  For  as  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
is  like  to  forsake  you  for  your  wilful  delays,  so  cus- 
tom will  strengthen  sin :  and  custom  in  sinning  will 
harden  your  hearts,  and  make  you  "  past  feeling,  to 
work  all  uncleanness  with  greediness."  Cannot  you 
crush  this  serpent  when  it  is  but  weak;  and  can  you 
encounter  it  in  its  serpentine  strength?  Cannot  you 
pluck  up  a  tender  plant;  and  can  you  pluck  up  an 
oak  or  cedar?  O  sinners!  what  do  you  mean,  to 
make  your  recovery  so  difficult  by  delay  ?  You  are 
never  like  to  be  fairer  for  heaven,  and  to  find  con 
version  an  easier  work,  than  now  you  may  do.  Will 
you  stay  till  the  work  be  ten  times  harder,  and  yet 
do  you  think  it  so  hard  already? 

10.  Consider  also,  that  sin  gets  daily  victories  by 
your  delay.  We  lay  out  batteries  against  it,  and 
preach,  and  exhort,  and  pray  against  it,  and  it  gets 
a  kind  of  victory  over  all,  as  long  as  we  prevail  not 
with  you  to  turn.  It  conquereth  our  persuasions 
and  advice;  it  conquereth  all  the  stirrings  of  your 
consciences;  it  conquereth  all  your  heartless  pur- 
poses and  deceitful  promises.  And  these  frequent 
conquests  strengthen. your  sin,  and  weaken  your  re- 
sistance, and  leave  the  matter  almost  hopeless.  Be- 
fore a  physician  hath  used  remedies,  he  hath  more 
hope  of  a  cure,  than  when  he  hath  tried  all  means, 
and  finds  that  the  best  medicines  do  no  good,  but 
the  man  is  still  as  bad  or  worse.  So  when  all  means 
have  been  tried  with  you,  and  yet  you  are  uncon- 
verted, the  case  draws  towards  desperation  itself: 
the  very  means  are  disabled  more  than  before;  that 
is,  your  hearts  are  harder  to  be  wrought  upon  by 
them.  When  you  have  long  been  under  sermons 
and  reading,  and  among  good  examples,  and  yet 
you  are  unconverted;  these  ordinances  lose  much  of 
their  force  with  you.  Custom  will  make  you  slight 
them,  and  be  dead-hearted  under  them.  And  it  is 
these  very  same  means  and  truths,  that  you  have 


FIFTY   REASONS.  209 

frustrated,  that  must  do  the  work,  or  it  will  never 
be  done. 

11.  Moreover,  age  itself  hath  many  inconveni- 
ences, and  youth  hath  many  great  advantages:  and 
therefore  it  is  folly  to  delay.  In  age  the  under- 
standing and  memory  grow  dull,  and  people  grow 
incapable,  and  almost  unchangeable.  We  see,  by 
our  every  day's  experience,  that  men  think  they 
should  not  change  when  they  are  old ;  that  opinion 
or  practice,  in  which  they  have  been  brought  up, 
they  think  they  should  not  then  forsake.  To  learh 
when  they  are  old,  and  to  turn  when  they  are  old— 
you  see  how  much  they  are  against  it.  Besides, 
now  unfit  is  age  to  be  at  that  pains  that  youth  can 
undergo?  How  unfit  to  begin  the  holy  warfare 
against  the  flesh,  the  world,  and  the  devil  ?  God's 
way  is  to  list  his  soldiers  as  soon  as  may  be,  when 
in  youth;  but  the  devil  will  persuade  them  that  it 
is  yet  too  soon;  and  when  he  can  no  longer  persuade 
them  that  it  is  yet  too  soon,  he  will  then  persuade 
that  it  is  too  late.  O  what  a  happy  thing  it  is  to 
come  to  God  betimes,  and  with  the  first!  What 
advantage  hath  youth !  They  have  the  vigour  of 
wit  and  of  body;  they  are  not  rooted  and  hardened 
in  sin,  nor  filled  with  prejudice  and  obstinacy  against 
godliness,  as  others  are. 

12.  You  have  such  times  of  advantage  and  en- 
couragement as  few  ages  of  the  world  have  ever 
seen,  and  few  nations  on  earth  enjoy  at  this  day. 
What  plain  and  plentiful  teaching  have  you !  What 
abundance  of  good  examples,  and  the  society  of 
the  godly!  Private  and  public  helps  are  common. 
Seldom  has  the  church  seen  such  days  on  earth. 
And  yet  is  not  the  way  to  heaven  fair  enough  for 
you?  Yet  are  you  not  ready  to  turn  to  God?  Will 
you  delay  till  harvest  time  be  over,  and  the  winter 
of  persecution  come  again?  Have  you  sun,  and 
wind,  and  tide,  to  serve  you,  and  will  you  stay  to 
set  out  in  storms  and  darkness  ? 

13.  Moreover,  Your  delay  doth  cast  your  con- 

18 


210  FIFTY   REASONS. 

version  and  salvation  into  hazard,  yea,  inti  many 
and  grievous  hazards.  And  is  your  everlasting 
happiness  a  matter  to  be  wilfully  hazarded,  by  cause- 
less and  unreasonable  delays  ?  If  you  delay  to-day, 
you  are  utterly  uncertain  of  living  till  to-morrow. 
If  you  put  by  this  one  motion,  you  know  not  wheth- 
er ever  you  may  have  another.  You  know  not 
whether  ever  the  Spirit  of  God  will  put  another 
thought  of  turning  into  your  hearts;  or  at  least, 
whether  he  will  incline  your  hearts  to  turn. 

14.  Moreover,  The  delay  of  conversion  continu- 
eth  your  sin,  and  so  you  will  daily  increase  their 
number,  and  increase  your  guilt,  and  make  your 
souls  abundantly  miserable.  Are  you  not  deep 
enough  in  debt  to  God  already,  and  have  you  not 
sins  enough  to  answer  for  upon  your  souls?  Would 
you  fain  have  one  year's  sins  more,  or  one  day's  sins 
more,  to  be  charged  upon  you?  O,  if  you  did  but 
know  what  sin  is,  it  would  amaze  you  to  think  what 
a  mountain  lieth  already  upon  your  consciences! 
One  sin  unpardoned  will  sink  the  sinner  into  hell; 
and  you  have  many  a  thousand  upon  your  souls 
already,  and  would  you  yet  have  more?  Methinks 
you  should  rather  look  about  you,  and  bethink  you 
how  you  may  get  a  pardon  for  all  that  is  past. 

15.  And  as  sin  increaseth  daily  by  delay,  so  con- 
sequently the  wrath  of  God  increaseth,  and  you  will 
run  further  into  his  displeasure,  and  possibly  you 
may  cut  down  the  bough  that  you  stand  upon,  and 
hasten  destruction  to  yourselves.  When  you  live 
daily  upon  God,  and  are  kept  out  of  hell,  by  a  mira- 
cle of  his  mercy,  methinks  you  should  not  desire  yet 
longer  to  provoke  him,  lest  he  withdraw  his  mercy, 
and  let  you  fall  into  misery. 

16.  And  do  but  consider,  What  will  become  of 
you  if  ye  be  found  in  these  delays?  You  are  then 
lost,  body  and  soul,  for  ever.  Now  if  you  had  but 
hearts  to  know  what  is  good  for  you,  the  worst  of 
you  might  be  converted  and  saved;  for  God  doth 
freely  offer  you  his  grace.     But  if  you  die  in  your 


IJfTY   SEASONS  211 

delays,  <n  the-  uvft&ing  of  an  eye  you  will  find  your- 
selves utterly  ui^lone  for  ever. 

17.  Consider,  That  your  very  time,  which  you 
lose  by  these  delays,  is  an  inconceivable  loss.  When 
time  is  gone,  what  would  you  then  give  for  one  of 
those  years,  or  days,  or  hours,  which  you  now  fool- 
ishly trifle  away?  O  wretched  sinners,  are  there  so 
many  thousand  souls  in  hell  that  would  give  a 
world,  if  they  had  it,  for  one  of  your  days;  and  yet 
can  you  afford  to  throw  them  away  in  worldliness, 
and  sensuality,  and  loitering  delays?  1  tell  you, 
time  is  better  worth  than  all  the  wealth  and  honours 
of  the  world.  The  day  is  coming  when  you  will 
value  time:  when  it  is  gone  you  will  know  what  a  ) 
blessing  you  made  light  of. 

18.  Consider  also,  that  God  hath  given  you  no 
time  to  spare.  He  hath  not  lent  you  one  day  or 
hour,  more  than  is  needful  for  the  work  that  you 
have  to  do;  therefore  you  have  no  reason  to  lose 
any  by  your  delays.  Do  you  imagine  that  God 
would  give  a  man  an  hour's  time  for  nothing?  much 
less  to  abuse  him  and  serve  his  enemy.  No,  let  me 
tell  you,  that  if  you  make  your  best  of  every  hour, 
if  you  should  never  lose  a  moment  of  your  lives, 
you  would  find  all  little  enough  for  the  work  you 
have  to  do.  I  know  not  how  others  think  of  time, 
but  for  my  part  I  am  forced  daily  to  say,  How  swift, 
how  short  is  time !  And  how  great  is  our  work ! 
And  when  we  have  done  our  best,  how  slowly  it 
goeth  on!  O  precious  time!  What  hearts  have 
they,  what  lives  do  those  men  lead,  that  think  time 
long !  That  have  time  to  spare,  and  to  pass  in  idle- 
ness ! 

19.  To  convince  you  more,  Consider,  1  beseech 
you,  the  exceeding  greatness  of  the  work  you  have 
to  do;  and  tell  me  then,  whether  it  be  time  for  you 
to  delay.  Especially  you,  that  are  yet  unconverted, 
and  strangers  to  the  heavenly  nature  of  the  saints, — 
you  have  far  more  to  do  than  other  men.  You  have 
a  multitude  of  head-strong  passions  to  subdue,  and 


212  FIFTY    REASONS. 

abundance  of  deadly  sins  to  kill,  and  rooted  vices  to 
root  up:  you  have  a  false  opinion  of  God,  and  his 
ways,  to  be  plucked  up;  and  the  customs  of  many 
years'  standing  to  be  broken:  you  have  blind  minds 
that  must  be  enlightened  with  heavenly  knowledge, 
and  abundance  of  spiritual  truths  that  are  above  the 
reach  of  flesh  and  blood,  that  you  must  needs  learn 
and  understand:  you  have  much  to  know,  that  is 
hard  to  be  known:  you  have  a  dead  soul  to  be  made 
alive,  and  a  hard  heart  to  be  melted;  and  a  seared 
conscience  to  be  softened,  and  made  tender;  and 
the  guilt  of  many  thousand  sins  to  be  pardoned: 
you  have  a  new  heart  to  get,  and  a  new  end  to  aim 
at,  and  seek  after,  and  a  new  life  to  live;  abundance 
of  enemies  you  have  to  fight  with,  and  overcome; 
abundance  of  temptations  to  resist  and  conquer; 
many  graces  to  get,  and  preserve  and  exercise,  and 
increase;  and  abundance  of  holy  work  to  do  for  the 
service  of  God,  and  the  good  of  yourselves  and 
others.  O  what  a  deal  of  work  doth  every  one  of 
these  words  contain!  And  yet  what  abundance 
more  might  I  name!  And  have  you  all  this  to  do, 
and  yet  will  you  delay?  And  they  are  not  indiffer- 
ent matters  that  are  beiore  you:  it  is  no  less  than 
the  saving  of  your  souls,  and  obtaining  the  blessed 
glory  of  the  saints.  Necessity  is  upon  you.  These 
are  things  that  must  be  done,  or  else  wo  to  you  that 
ever  you  were  born !  And  yet  have  you  another 
day  to  lose?  Why,  sirs,  if  you  had  a  hundred  miles 
to  go  in  a  day  or  two,  upon  pain  of  death,  would 
you  delay?  0  think  of  the  work  that  you  have  to 
do,  and  then  judge  whether  it  be  not  time  to  stir? 

20.  And  methinks  it  should  exceedingly  terrify 
you  to  consider,  What  multitudes  perish  by  such 
delays;  and  how  few  that  wilfully  delay,  are  ever 
converted  and  saved!  Many  a  soul,  that  once  had 
purposes  hereafter  to  repent,  is  now  in  the  misery 
where  there  is  no  repentance  that  will  do  them  any 
good.  For  my  part,  though  I  have  known  some 
very  few  converted  when  they  were  old;  yet  I  must 


FIFTY    REASONS.  213 

needs  say,  both  that  they  were  very  few  indeed,  and 
I  had  reason  to  believe,  that  they  were  such  as  had 
sinned  before  in  ignorance,  and  did  not  wilfully  put 
off  repentance,  when  they  were  convinced  that  they 
must  turn.  Though  I  doubt  not  but  God  may  con- 
vert even  these  if  he  please,  yet  I  cannot  say  that  1 
have  ever  known  many,  if  any  such,  to  be  converted. 
Sure  I  am  that  God's  usual  time  is  in  childhood,  or 
youth,  before  they  have  long  abused  grace,  and  wil- 
fully delayed  to  turn  when  they  were  convinced. 
Some  considerable  time,  I  confess,  may  have  elapsed, 
before  their  first  convictions  and  purposes  be  brought 
to  any  great  ripeness  of  performance:  but  O  how 
dangerous  it  is  to  delay ! 

21.  Consider  also,  Either  conversion  is  good  or 
bad  for  you;  either  it  is  needful  or  unnecessary. 
If  it  be  bad,  and  a  needless  thing,  then  let  it  alone 
altogether.  But  if  you  are  convinced  that  it  is  good 
and  necessary,  is  it  not  better  now  than  to  stay  any 
longer?  Is  it  not  the  sooner  the  better?  Are  you 
afraid  of  being  safe  or  happy  too  soon?  If  you  are 
sick,  you  care  not  how  soon  you  are  well;  if  you 
have  a  bone  out,  you  care  not  how  soon  it  is  set;  if 
you  fall  into  the  water,  you  care  not  how  soon  you 
get  out;  if  your  house  be  on  fire,  you  care  not  how 
soon  it  be  quenched;  if  you  are  put  in  fear  by  any 
doubts  or  ill  tidings,  you  care  not  how  soon  your 
fears  be  over.  And  yet  are  you  afraid  of  being  too 
soon  out  of  the  power  of  the  devil,  and  the  danger 
of  hell;  and  of  being  too  soon  the  sons  of  God,  and 
the  holy,  justified  heirs  of  heaven  ? 

22.  Consider  also,  Either  you  can  turn  now,  or 
not.  If  you  can  and  yet  will  not,  you  are  utterly 
without  excuse.  If  you  cannot  to-day,  how  much 
less  will  you  be  able  hereafter,  when  strength  is  less, 
and  difficulties  greater,  and  burdens  more?  Is  it  not 
time,  therefore,  to  apply  to  Christ  for  strength;  and 
should  not  the  very  sense  of  your  inability  dissuade 
you  from  delay? 

23.  Consider,  How  long  you  have  stayed  already, 


214  FIFTY  REASONS. 

and  put  God's  patience  to  it  by  your  folly.  Have 
not  the  devil,  the  world,  and  the  flesh,  had  many 
years'  time  of  your  life  already?  Have  you  not 
long  enough  been  swallowing  the  poison  of  sin; 
and  long  enough  been  abusing  the  Lord  that  made 
you;  and  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  that  was  shed 
for  you;  and  the  Spirit  of  grace,  that  hath  moved 
and  persuaded  you?  Are  you  not  yet  gone  far 
enough  from  God?  And  have  you  not  yet  done 
enough  to  the  destroying  of  yourselves,  and  casting 
away  everlasting  life?  O  wretched  sinners!  it  is  ra- 
ther time  for  you  to  fall  down  on  your  faces  before 
the  Lord,  and  with  tears  and  groans  to  lament  it  day 
and  night,  that  ever  you  have  gone  so  far  in  sin,  and 
delayed  so  long  to  turn  to  him  as  you  have  done. 
Sure,  if  after  so  many  years'  rebellion,  you  are  yet 
so  far  from  lamenting  it,  that  you  had  rather  have 
more  of  it,  and  had  rather  hold  on  a  little  longer, 
no  wonder  if  God  forsake  you,  and  let  you  alone. 

24.  Have  you  any  hopes  of  God's  acceptance  and 
your  salvation,  or  not?  If  you  have  such  hopes, — 
that,  when  you  turn,  God  will  pardon  all  your  sins, 
and  give  you  everlasting  life, — is  it,  think  you,  an 
ingenuous  thing  to  desire  to  offend  him  yet  a  little 
longer,  from  whom  you  expect  such  exceeding  mer- 
cy and  glory  ?  Have  you  the  faces  to  s|)eak  out  what 
is  in  your  hearts  and  practice;  and  to  go  to  God 
with  such  words  as  these  ?  *  Lord,  I  know  I  can- 
not have  the  pardon  of  one  sin  without  the  blood  of 
Christ,  and  the  riches  of  thy  mercy.  Nor  can  I  he 
saved  from  hell  without  it:  but  yet  I  hope  for  all  this 
from  thy  grace.  I  beseech  thee  let  me  live  a  little 
longer  in  my  sins;  a  little  longer  let  me  trample  on 
the  blood  of  Christ,  and  despise  thy  commandments, 
and  abuse  thy  mercies;  and  then  pardon  me  all  that 
ever  I  did,  and  take  me  into  Glory.' — Could  you  for 
shame  put  such  a  request  to  God  as  this?  If  you 
could,  you  are  past  shame:  if  not,  then  do  not  prac- 
tise and  desire  that  which  you  cannot,  for  shame, 
speak  out  and  request. 


FIFTY    REASONS.  215 

25.  Moreover,  It  is  an  exceeding  advantage  to 
you  to  come  to  God  betimes;  and  an  exceeding 
loss,  tli at  you  will  suffer  by  delay,  if  you  were  sure 
to  be  converted  at  the  last.  If  you  speedily  come 
in,  you  may  have  time  to  learn,  and  get  more  under- 
standing in  the  matters  of  God,  than  otherwise  can 
be  expected.  For  knowledge  will  not  be  had  but 
by  time  and  study.  You  may  also  have  time  to  get 
strength  of  grace,  when  beginners  can  expect  no 
more  tban  infant  strength.  You  may  grow  to  be 
men  of  parts  and  abilities,  to  be  useful  in  the  church, 
and  profitable  to  those  about  you,  when  others  can- 
not go  or  stand,  unless  they  lean  on  the  stronger  for 
support.  If  you  come  in  betimes,  you  may  do  God 
service;  which,  in  the  evening  of  the  day,  you  will 
neither  have  strength  nor  time  to  do.  You  may 
have  time  to  get  assurance  of  salvation,  and  to  be 
ready  with  comfort,  when  death  shall  call;  when 
a  weakling  is  like  to  be  perplexed  with  doubts  and 
fears,  and  death  is  like  to  be  terrible,  because  of 
their  unreadiness. 

26.  And  did  you  ever  consider,  who  and  how 
many  stay  for  you  while  you  delay?  Do  you 
know  who  it  is  that  you  make  to  wait  your  leisure? 
God  himself  stands  over  you  with  the  offers  of  his 
mercy,  as  if  he  thought  it  long  till  you  return,  say- 
ing, "O  that  there  were  such  a  heart  in  them!" 
and  "  when  will  it  once  be !"  "  How  long,  ye  simple 
ones,  will  ye  love  simplicity,  and  scorners  delight  in 
scorning,  and  fools  hate  knowledge?  Turn  ye  at 
my  reproof."  And  do  you  think  it  wise,  or  safe,  for 
you  to  make  the  God  of  heaven  wait  on  you,  while 
you  are  serving  his  enemy?  Can  you  oner  God  a 
baser  indignity,  than  to  expect  he  should  support 
your  lives,  and  feed  you,  and  preserve  you,  and 
patiently  forbear  while  you  abuse  him  to  his  face, 
and  drudge  for  the  flesh,  the  world,  and  the  devil? 
Should  a  worm  thus  use  the  Lord  that  made  him? 
Marvel  not,  if  he  withdraw  his  supporting  mercy, 
and  let  sucli  wretches  drop  into  hell ! 


? 


y  ! 


(And  it  is  not  God  onlv,  but  "his  Servants,  and 


^q  [creatures,  and  ordinances,  that  are  alrwaiting  on 
%you.  The  angels  stay  for  the  joy  that  is  due  to 
them  upon  your  conversion.  Ministers  are  study- 
ing", and  preaching,  and  praying  for  you;  godly 
neighbours  are  praying,  and  longing  for  your  change. 
The  springs  and  rivers  are  flowing  for  you;  the 
winds  blow  for  you;  the  sun  shines  for  you:  the 
clouds  rain  for  you;  the  earth  bears  fruit  for  you; 
the  beasts  must  labour,  and  suffer,  and  die  for  you : 
all  things  are  doing,  and  would  you  stand  still,  or 
else  do  worse?  What  haste  makes  the  sun  about 
the  world,  to  return  in  its  time  to  give  you  light! 
What  haste  make  other  creatures  in  your  service ! 
And  yet  must  you  delay?  Must  God  stay,  and 
Christ  and  the  Spirit  stay?  Must  angels  stay,  must 
ministers  stay,  must  the  godly  stay,  and  the  ordi- 
nances stay,  and  all  the  creatures  stay  your  leisure, 
while  you  are  abusing  God,  and  your  souls,  and 
others,  and  while  you  delay,  as  if  it  were  too  soon 
to  turn? 

27.  Consider,  That  when  you  were  lost,  the  Son 
of  God  did  not  delay  the  work  of  redemption.  He 
presently  undertook  it,  and  turned  by  the  stroke  of 
condemning  justice.  In  the  fulness  of  time  he  came 
and  performed  what  he  undertook;  he  failed  not  one 
day  of  his  appointed  time.  And  will  you  now  delay 
to  accept  the  benefit  and  to  turn  to  him?  Must  he 
make  such  haste  to  save  you  at  so  dear  a  rate,  and 
now  will  you  delay  to  be  saved? 

28.  Moreover,  God  doth  not  delay  to  do  you 
good.  You  have  the  day  and  night  in  their  proper 
seasons;  the  sun  doth  not  fail  to  rise  upon  you  at 
the  appointed  time;  you  have  the*spring  and  harvest 
in  their  proper  seasons;  the  former  and  the  latter 
rain  in  season.  When  you  are  in  want,  you  have 
seasonable  supplies;  and  when_you  are  in  danger, 
you  have  seasonable  deliverances.  And  i<;  it  meet 
or  equal  that  you  should  refuse  to  bring  forth  sea- 


FIFTY   REASONS.  217 

sonable  fruit,  but  still  be  putting  off  God  with  your 


29.  Moreover,  When  you  are  in  trouble  and  ne- 
cessity, you  are  then  in  haste  for  deliverance  and  re- 
lief. Then  you  think  every  day  a  week,  till  your 
danger  or  suffering  be  past.  If  you  be  under  the 
pain  of  a  disease,  or  in  danger  of  death,  or  under 
poverty,  or  oppression,  or  disgrace,  you  would  have 
God  relieve  you  without  delay;  and  yet  you  will 
not  turn  to  him  without  delay.  Then  you  are  ready 
to  cry  out,  '  How  long,  Lord,  how  long  till  deliver- 
ance come?'  But  you  will  not  hear  God,  when  he 
crieth  to  you,  in  your  sins — How  long  will  it  be  ere 
you  turn  from  your  transgressions?  When  shall  it 
once  be?  When  you  are  to  receive  any  outward 
deliverance,  you  care  not  how  soon;  but  when  you 
are  to  turn  to  God,  and  receive  his  grace  and  title  to 
glory,  then  you  care  not  how  late,  as  if  you  had 
no  mind  of  it.  Can  you,  for  shame,  beg  of  God  to 
hasten  your  deliverance,  when  you  remember  your 
delays,  and  still  continue  to  trifle  with  him  and  draw 
back  ? 

30.  Your  present  prosperity,  and  worldly  delights, 
are  passing  away  without  delay;  and  should  you  de- 
lay to  make  sure  of  better  in  their  stead  ?  Time  ' 
going;  and  health  is  going;  youth  is  going;  yea,  life 
is  going;  your  riches  are  taking  wing;  your  fleshly 
pleasures  do  perish  in  the  very  using.  Shortly  you 
must  part  with  house  and  lands,  with  goods  and 
friends;  and  all  your  mirth  and  earthly  business  will 
be  done.  All  this  you  know,  and  yet.  will  you  delay 
to  lay  up  a  durable  treasure,  which  you  may  trust 
upon,  and  to  provide  you  a  better  tenement  before 
you  be  turned  out  of  this?  What  will  you  do  for 
a  habitation,  for  pleasures  and  contents,  when  all 
that  you  have  now  is  spent  and  gone,  and  earth  will 
afford  you  nothing  _but  a  grave?  If  you  could  but 
keep  that  you  have,  I  should  not  much  wonder, 
fehat  knowing  so  little  of  God  and  another  world,  you 
look  not  much  after  it;  but  when  vou  perceive  death 

19 


?) 

IS  I 


218  FIFTY    REASONS. 

knocking  at  your  doors,  and  seeing  all  your  worldly 
comforts  are  packing  up  and  hasting  away,  me- 
thinks  you  should  presently  turn,  and  make  sure  of 
heaven,  without  any  more  delay. 

31.  Consider  also,  Whether  it  be  equal  that  you 
should  delay  your  conversion,  when  you  can  season 
ably  despatch  your  worldly  business;  and  when  your 
flesh  would  be  provided  for,  you  can  hearken  to  it 
without  delay.  You  have  wit  enough  to  sow  your 
seed  in  season,  and  will  not  delay  it  till  the  time  of 
harvest.  You  will  reap  your  corn  when  it  is  ripe, 
and  gather  your  fruit  when  it  is  ripe,  without  de- 
lay. You  observe  the  seasons  in  the  course  of  your 
labours,  day  by  day,  and  year  by  year.  You  will  not 
lie  in  bed,  when  you  should  be  at  your  work,  nor 
delay  all  night  to  go  to  your  rest;  nor  sutler  youi 
servants  to  delay  your  business.  If  you  be  sick, 
you  will  seek  help  without  delay,  lest  your  disease 
should  grow  to  be  incurable.  And  yet  will  you 
delay  your  conversion,  and  the  making  sure  of 
heaven?  Why,  sirs,  shall  these  trifles  be  done 
without  delay,  and  shall  your  salvation  be  put  off  ? 
Can  you  have  time  for  every  thing,  except  that  one 
thing  which  all  the  rest  are  merely  to  promote,  and 
in  comparison  of  which  they  are  all  but  dreams? 
Can  you  have  time  to  work,  to  plough,  and  sow, 
and  reap,  and  cannot  you  have  time  to  prepare  for 
eternal  life?  Why,  sirs,  if  you  cannot  find  time  yet 
to  search  your  hearts,  to  turn  to  God,  and  prepare 
for  death,  give  over  eating  and  drinking,  and  sleeping, 
and  say,  you  cannot  have  time  for  these.  You  may 
as  wisely  say  so  for  these  smaller  matters,  as  lor 
the  greater. 

82.  Moreover,  if  men  offer  you  conveniences  and 
commodities  for  your  bodies,  you  will  not  stand  de- 
laying, and  need  so  many  persuasions  to  accept 
them.  If  your  landlord  would  lor  nothing  renew 
your  lease;  if  any  man  would  give  you  houses  or 
lands,  would  you  delay  so  long  before  you  would 
accept  them?    A  beggar  at  your  door  will  not  only 


FIFTtf    REASONS.  219 

thankfully  take  your  alms,  without  your  entreaty 
and  importunity,  but  will  beg  for  it,  and  be  impor- 
tunate with  you  to  give  it.  And  yet  will  you  delay 
to  accept  the  blessed  offers  of  grace,  which  are  so 
much  greater? 

33.  Yet  consider,  that  it  is  God  that  is  the  giver, 
and  you  that  are  the  miserable  beggars  and  receiv- 
ers. And  therefore  it  is  fitter  you  should  wait  on 
God,  and  call  on  him  for  his  grace,  when  he  seem- 
eth  to  delay,  and  not  that  he  should  wait  on  you. 
He  can  live  without  your  receiving,  but  you  cannot 
live  without  his  giving.  The  beggar  must  be  glad 
of  an  alms  at  any  time;  and  the  condemned  person 
of  a  pardon  at  any  time;  but  the  giver  may  well 
expect  that  his  gifts  be  received  without  delay,  or 
else  he  may  let  them  go  without. 

34.  And  methinks  you  should  not  deal  worse 
with  God,  when  he  comes  to  you  as  a  physician  to 
save  your  own  souls,  than  you  would  do  with  a 
neighbour,  or  a  friend,  when  it  is  not  for  your  own 
good,  but  for  theirs.  If  your  neighbour  lay  a  dy- 
ing, you  would  go  and  visit  him  without  delay.  If 
he  fell  down  in  a  swoon,  you  would  catch  him  up 
without  delay.  If  he  fell  into  the  fire  or  water, 
you  would  pluck  him  out  without  delay.  Yea,  you 
would  do  thus  much  to  a  very  beast.  And  yet  will 
you  delay,  when  it  is  not  another,  but  yourselves 
that  are  sinking  and  drowning,  and  within  a  step  of 
death  and  desperation? 

35.  If  yet  you  perceive  not  how  unreasonably 
you  deal  with  God  and  your  souls,  I  beseech  you, 
consider,  whether  you  do  not  deal  worse  with  him 
than  you  do  with  the  devil  himself.  If  Satan  or  his 
servants  persuade  you  to  sin,  you  delay  not  so  long 
but  you  are  presently  at  it.  You  are  ready  to  fol- 
low every  tippling  companion  or  gamester  that  puts 
up  the  finger.  You  are  as  willing  to  go,  as  they 
are  to  invite  you.  The  very  sight  of  the  cup  does 
presently  prevail  with  the  drunkard ;  and  the  sight 
of  a  harlot  prevaileth  with  the  fornicator;  and  sin 


220  FIFTY    REASONS. 

can  be  presently  entertained  without  delay.  But 
when  God  comes,  when  Christ  calleth,  when  the 
Spirit  moveth,  when  the  minister  persuadeth,  when 
conscience  is  convinced,  we  can  have  nothing  but 
wishes,  and  purposes,  and  promises,  with  delays. 

Nay,  more  than  this:  so  eager  are  they  on  their 
sin,  that  we  are  not  able  to  entreat  them  to  delay  it. 
When  the  passionate  man  is  but  provoked,  we  can- 
not persuade  him  to  delay  his  railing  language,  so 
long  as  to  consider  first  of  the  issue.  We  cannot 
entreat  the  drunkard  to  put  off  his  drunkenness  but 
for  one  twelvemonth,  while  he  trieth  another  course. 
All  the  ministers  in  the  country  cannot  persuade 
the  worldling  to  forbear  his  worldliness,  and  the 
proud  persons  their  pride,  and  the  ungodly  person 
his  ungodliness,  for  the  space  of  one  month,  or  week, 
or  day.  And  yet  when  God  hath  a  command  and 
a  request  to  them,  to  turn  to  him  and  be  saved, 
here  they  can  delay,  without  our  entreaty. 

36.  Consider  also,  that  it  is  not  possible  for  you 
to  turn  too  soon:  nor  will  yopsver  have, «ause-4o 
repen^^ef^our  speediness.  j|5elay.  mav'^undo  you; 
but  sr^dV/furning  can^go^yo^^o]^Srn.'*^^uld 
there  belmy  delay,  whereTF^not possible  to  be  too 

^Jngtyf  TTo  ^ou  thiriltthat  tlrereis-crertr saint  in 
heaven,  yea  or  on  earth,  that  is  sorry  he  continued 
not  longer  unconverted?  No:  you  shall  never  hear 
of  such  a  repentance  from  the  mouth  of  any  that  is 
indeed  converted. 

37.  But  I  must  tell  you  on  the  contrary,  that  if 
ever  you  be  so  happy  as  to  be  converted,  you  will 
repent  it,  and  a  hundred  times  repent  it,  that  you 
delayed  so  long  before  you  yielded.  O,  how  it  will 
grieve  you,  when  your  hearts  are  melted  with  the 
love  of  God,  and  are  overcome  with  the  infinite 
kindness  of  his  pardoning,  saving  grace,  that  ever 
you  had  the  hearts  to  abuse  such  a  God,  and  deal 
so  unkindly  with  him,  and  stand  out  so  long  against 
that  compassion  that  was  seeking  your  salvation! 
Or  how  it  will  grieve  your  hearts,  to  consider  that 


FIFTY    REASONS.  221 

you  have  spent  so  much  of  your  lives  in  sin,  for  the  - 
devil,  and  the  flesh,  and  the  deceitful  world !  O, 
you  will  think  with  yourselves,  'Was  not  God  more 
worthy  of  my  youthful  days?  Had  I  not  better 
have  spent  them  in  his  service,  and  in  the  work  of 
my  salvation?  Alas,  that  I  should  waste  such  pre- 
cious days,  and  now  be  so  far  behind-hand  as  I  am ! 
Now  I  want  that  faith,  that  hope,  that  love,  that 
peace,  that  assurance,  that  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  I  might  have  had,  if  I  had  spent  those  years 
for  God,  which  I  spent  in  the  service  of  the  world 
and  the  flesh.' 

38.  And  I  pray  you,  consider  whether  it  helongs 
of  right  to  God  or  you,  to  determine  of  the  day  and 
hour  of  your  coming  in.  It  is  he  that  must  give 
you  the  pardon  of  your  sins;  and  doth  it  not  belong 
to  him  to  appoint  the  time  of  your  receiving  it? 
You  cannot  have  Christ  and  life  without  him :  it  is 
he  that  must  give  you  the  kingdom  of  heaven:  and 
is  he  not  worthy,  then,  to  appoint  the  time  of  your 
conversion,  that  you  may  be  made  partakers  of  it? 
But  if  he  say,  To-day,  dare  you  say,  I  will  stay 
till  to-morrow?  " 

39.  Nay,  consider,  whether  God  or  you  be  like- 
lier to  know  the  meetest  time.  Dare  you  say  that 
you  know  better  when  to  turn  than  God  doth?  I 
suppose  you  dare  not;  and  if  you  dare  not  say  so, 
for  shame,  let  not  your  practice  say  so.  God  saith, 
"To-day,  while  it  is  called  to-day,  hear  my  voice, 
and  harden  not  your  hearts."  And  dare  you  say, 
It  is  better  to  stay  one  month  longer,  or  one  day 
longer?  God  saith,  "  Behold,  this  is  the  accepted 
time!  Behold,  this  is  the  day  of  salvation!" 
And  will  you  say,  It  is  time  enough  to-morrow? 
Do  you  know  better  than  God?  If  your  physi- 
cian do  but  tell  you  in  a  pleurisy  or  a  fever,  You 
must  let  blood  this  day  before  to-morrow;  you 
have  so  much  reason  as  to  submit  to  his  under 
standing,  and  think  that  he  knows  better  than  you 


222  FIFTY    REASONS. 

and  cannot  you  allow  as  much  to  the  God  of  wis 
dom  ? 

40.  Consider  also,  that  the  speediness  of  your 
conversion,  when  God  first  calls  you,  doth  make 
you  the  more  welcome,  and  is  a  thing  exceedingly 
pleasing  to  God.  Our  proverb  is,  a  speedy  gift  is 
a  double  gift.  If  you  ask  any  thing  of  a  friend, 
and  he  give  it  you  presently  and  cheerfully  at  the 
first  asking,  you  will  think  you  have  it  with  a  good- 
will; but  if  he  stand  long  delaying  first,  and  de- 
murring upon  it,  you  will  think  that  you  have  it 
with  an  ill-will,  and  that  you  owe  him  the  smaller 
thanks.  If  a  very  beggar  at  your  door  must  stay 
long  for  an  alms,  he  will  think  he  is  the  less  be- 
holden to  you.  How  much  mor,e  may  God  be  dis- 
pleased, when  he  must  stay  so  long  for  his  own,  and 
that  for  your  benefit !  God  ioveth  a  cheerful  giver, 
and  consequently,  a  cheerful  obeyer  of  his  call;  and 
if  it  be  hearty  and  cheerful,  it  is  the  likelier  to  be 
speedy,  without  such  delays. 

41.  And  I  would  desire  you  but  to  do  with  God 
as  you  would  be  done  jw:  Wo"uT6f  you  take  it  well 
of  you v  children,  if  theyshould tear  all  their  clothes, 
and  cast  their  meat  to  the  dogs,  and  tread  it  in  the 
dirt,  and  when  you  entreat  them,  they  will  not  re- 
gard you?  Would  you  stand  month  after  month 
entreating  and  waiting  on  them,  as  God  doth  on  you? 
If  your  servant  will  spend  the  whole  day  and  year 
in  drinking  and  playing,  when  he  should  do  your 
work,  will  you  wait  on  him  all  the  year  with  en- 
treaties, and  pay  him  at  last,  as  if  he  had  served 
you?  And  can  you  expect  that  God  should  deal 
so  with  you  ? 

42.  Andconsider,  I  entreat  you,  that  your  delay 
is  a  derjjaj,  and  So  may  God  interpret  it,  lor  the 
trnTe^Tyour  turning  ispart  of  the  command.  He 
tfiat  saith,  Turn,  saith,  Nowyeven  to-day,  without 
delay.  He  giveth  you  no  longer  day.  if  time  be 
lengthened,  and  the  offer  made  again  and  again, 


/%*■ 


?*7^ 


FIFTT   REASONS.  223 

that  is  more  than  he  promised  you,  or  you  could 
have  promised  yourselves.  His  command  is,  Now 
return  and  live.  And  if  you  refuse  the  time,  the 
present  time,  you  refuse  the  offer,  and  forfeit  the 
benefit.  And  if  you  knew  but  what  it  is  to  give 
God  a  denial  in  such  a  case  as  this,  and  what  a 
case  you  were  in,  if  he  should  turn  away  in  wrath 
and  never  come  near  you  more;  you  would  then  be 
afraid  of  jesting  with  his  hot  displeasure,  or  trifling 
with  the  Lord. 

43.  And,  methinks,  you  should  remember,  that 
God  does  not  stay  thus  on  all,  as  he  doth  on  you. 
Thousands  are  under  despair,  and  past  all  remedy, 
while  patience  is  waiting  yet  upon  you.  Can  you 
forget  that  others  are  in  hell  at  this  very  hour,  for 
as  small  sins  as  those  that  you  are  yet  entangled 
and  linger  in?  Good  Lord,  what  a  thing  is  a  sense- 
less heart !  That  at  the  same  time  when  millions 
are  in  misery,  for  delaying  or  refusing  to  be  convert- 
ed, their  successors  should  fearlessly  venture  in  their 
steps ! 

44.  And  I  must  tell  you,  that  God  will  not  al- 
ways thus  wait  on  you,  and  attend  you  by  his  pa- 
tience, as  hitherto  he  hath  done.  Patience  hath 
his  appointed  time.  And  if  you  out-stay  that  time, 
you  are  miserable.  I  can  assure  you,  sirs,  the  glass 
is  turned  upon  you,  and  when  it  is  run  out,  you 
shall  never  have  an  hour  of  patience  more.  Then 
God  will  no  more  entreat  you  to  be  converted.  He 
will  not  always  stand  over  you  with  salvation,  and 
say,  O  that  this  sinner  would  repent  and  live !  O 
that  he  would  take  the  mercies  that  I  have  provided 
for  him !  Do  not  expect  that  God  should  do  this 
always  with  you;  for  it  will  not  be. 

45.  Your  delays  weary  the  servants  of  Christ 
that  are  employed  for  your  recovery.  Ministers 
will  grow  weary  of  preaching  to  you,  and  persuad- 
ing you.  When  we  come  to  men  that  were  nev- 
er warnednbefore,  we  come  in  hopes  that  they 
will  hear  ancT  obey;  and  this  hope  puts  life  ancl 


224  FIFTY    REASONS. 

earnestness  into  our  persuasions:  but  when  we 
have  persuaded  men  but  a  few  times  in  vain,  and 
leave  them  as  we  found  them,  our  spirits  begin 
to  droop  and  flag;  much  more,  when  we  have 
preached  and  persuaded  you  many  years,  and  still 
you  are  the  same,  and  are  but  where  you  were, — 
this  dulls  a  minister's  spirit,  and  makes  him  preach 
heavily  and  coldly,  when  he  is  almost  out  of  heart 
and  hope. 
'     Truly,  sirs,  I  must  tell  you,  for  my  own  part, 

pfchat  if  it  had  not  been  for  those  that  gave  me  better 
encouragement  by  their  obedience,  I  should  never 

'  have  held  out  with  you  a  quarter  of  this  time.  If 
all  had  profited  as  little  as  some,  and  all  remain- 
ed in  an  unconverted  state  as  some;  if  the  hum- 
ble, penitent,  obedient  ones  among  you,  had  not 
been  my  comfort  and  encouragement  under  Christ, 
I  had  been  gone  from  you  many  years  ago;  I  could 
never  have  held  out  till  now:  either  my  corruption 
would  have  made  me  run  away  with  Jonah,  or  my 
judgment  would  have  commanded  me  to  shake  off 
the  dust  off  my  feet  as  a  witness  against  you,  and 

!   depart. 

But  to  what  end  do  I  speak  all  this  to_you? 
To  what  end?  Why,  to  let  you  see  how  you 
abuse  both  God  and  man,  by  your  delays  and  disobe- 
dience. You  cannot  possibly  do  us,  that  are  you  r 
teachers,  a  greater  injury  or  mischief  in  the  world. 
It  is  not  in  your  power  to  wrong  us  more.  Are 
our  studies  and  our  labours  worth  nothing?  Are 
our  watchings  and  waitings  worth  nothing?  Are 
our  prayers,  and  tears,  and  groans  to  be  despised? 
God  will  not  despise  them,  if  ydu7io";  believe  it,  he 
will  set  them  all  on  your  account,  and  v<  >u  will  one  day 
Have  a  heavy  reckoning  of  them,  and  pay  full  dear 
(or  them.  Is  it  equal  dealing  with  us,  that  when 
we  are  watching  for  your  souls,  as  men  that  know 
we  must  give  an  account,  you  should  rob  us  of  our 
comfort,  and  make  us  do  it  with  sighs  and  sorrow • 
Yea,  that  you  should  undo  all  that  Ave  are  doing, 


FIFTY   REASONS.  225 

and  make  us  lose  our  labour  and  our  hopes?  And 
yet  do  you  not  think  to  pay  for  this?  Many  years 
we  have  been  persuading  you  but  to  turn  and  live, 
and  yet  you  are  unturned;  you  have  been  convinced 
long,  and  thinking  on  it;  and  wishing  long,  and  talk- 
ing of  it;  and  promising  long,  and  yet  it  is  undone, 
and  here  is  nothing  but  delays.  We  see,  while  you 
delay,  death  takes  away  one  this  week,  and  another 
the  next  week,  and  you  are  passing  into  the  other 
world  apace;  and  yet  those  that  are  left  behind  will 
take  no  warning,  but  still  delay :  we  see  that  Satan 
delays  not  while  you  delay :  he  is  day  and  night  at 
work  against  you:  if  he  seem  to  make  a  truce  with 
you,  it  is  that  he  may  be  doing  secretly,  while  you 
suspect  him  not :  we  see  that  sin  delayeth  not  while 
you  delay;  it  is  working  like  poison  or  infection  in 
your  bodies,  and  seizing  upon  your  vital  powers;  it 
is  every  day  blinding  you  more  and  more,  it  is  hard- 
ening your  hearts  more  and  more,  and  searing  your 
consciences,  to  bring  you  past  all  feeling  and  hope. 
And  must  we  stand  by  and  see  this  miserable  work 
with  our  people's  souls,  and  all  be  frustrated  and  re- 
jected by  themselves  that  we  do  for  their  deliver- 
ance? I  pray  you  deal  but  fairly  with  us,  and  tell 
us  whether  ever  you  will  turn  or  not.  If  you  will 
not,  but  are  resolved  for  sin  and  hell,  say  so,  that 
we  may  know  the  worst;  speak  out  your  minds, 
that  we  may  know  what  to  trust  to.  But  if 
still  you  say,  you  will  turn — when  will  you  do  it? 
You  will  do  it,  and  you  hope  you  shall:  but  when? 
How  long  would  you  have  us  wait  yet?  Nay,  I 
must  tell  you,  that  you  even  weary  God  himself. 
It  is  his  own  expression,  (Mai.  ii.  17.  Isa.  xliii.  24.) 
"  Thou  hast  wearied  me  with  thine  iniquities. " 
(Isa.  i.  14.)  And  I  must  say  to  you  as  the  Prophet 
(Isa.  vii.  13.)  "  Is  it  a  small  thing  for  you  to  weary 
men,  but  you  will  weary  my  God  also?  "  Consider 
what  it  is  that  you  do. 

46.  Consider  also,  that  you  are  at  a  constant  and 
unspeakable  loss  every  day  and  hour  that  you  delay 


L2Zb  FIFTY  REASONS. 

your  conversion.  O !  little  do  you  know  what  you 
deprive  yourselves  of  every  day.  If  a  slave  in  the 
galleys  or  prison  might  live  at  court,  as  a  favourite 
of  the  prince,  in  honour,  and  delight,  and  ease, 
would  he  delay  either  years  or  hours?  Or  would 
he  not  rather  think  within  himself,  Is  it  not  better  to 
be  at  ease  and  in  honour,  than  to  be  here?  As  the 
prodigal  said,  "How  many  lured  servants  of  my 
father  have  bread  enough  and  to  spare,  and  I  perish 
with  hunger! "  All  this  while  I  might  be  in  plenty 
and  delight. — All  the  while  that  you  live  in  sin,  you 
might  be  in  favour  of  God,  in  the  high  and  heaven- 
ly employments  of  the  saints;  you  might  have  the 
comforts  of  daily  communion  with  Christ  and  with 
the  saints;  you  might  be  laying  up  for  another 
world,  and  might  look  death  in  the  face  with  faith 
and  confidence,  as  one  that  cannot  be  conquered  by 
it;  you  might  live  as  the  heirs  of  heaven  on  earth. 
All  this,  and  more  than  this,  you  lose  by  your 
delays;  ail  the  mercies  of  God  are  lost  upon  you; 
your  food  and  raiment,  your  health  and  wealth, 
which  you  set  so  much  by,  all  is  lost  and  worse  than 
lost,  for  they  turn  to  your  greater  hurt;  all  our  pains 
with  you,  and  all  the  ordinances  of  God  which  you 
possess,  and  all  your  time  is  lost  and  worse.  And 
do  you  think  it,  indeed,  a  wise  man's  part  to  live  any 
longer  at  such  a  loss  as  this,  and  that  wilfully  and 
for  nothing?  If  you  knew  your  loss,  you  would 
not  think  so. 

47.  Nay  more,  you  are  all  this  while  doing  that 
which  must  be  undone  again,  or  you  will  be  undone 
for  ever.  You  are  running  from  God,  but  you  must 
cume  back  again,  or  perish  when  all  is  done.  You 
are  learning  a  hundred  carnal  lessons  and  false  con- 
ceits, that  must  be  all  unlearned  again;  you  are 
shutting  up  your  eyes  in  wilful  ignorance,  which 
must  be  opened  again :  you  must  learn  the  doctrine 
of  Christ,  the  great  Teacher  of  the  Church,  if  you 
stay  never  so  long,  or  else  you  would  be  cut  off'  from 
his  people.     Acts  iiL  22.  and  vii.  87. 


FIFTY   REASONS.  227 

■  When  you  have  been  long  accustoming  yourselves 
to  sin,  you  must  unlearn  and  break  all  these  cus- 
toms again.  You  are  hardening  your  hearts  daily, 
and  they  must  again  be  softened.  And  I  must  tell 
you,  that  though  a  little  time  and  labour  may  serve 
to  do  mischief,  yet  it  is  not  quickly  undone  again. 
You  may  sooner  set  your  house  on  fire  than  quench 
it.  You  may  sooner  cut  and  wound  your  bodies, 
than  heal  them  again;  and  sooner  catch  a  cold  or  a 
disease  than  cure  it;  you  may  quickly  do  that  which 
must  be  longer  undoing.  Besides,  the  cure  is  ac- 
companied with  pain;  you  must  take  many  a  bitter 
draught,  in  groans  or  tears  of  godly  sorrow,  for 
these  delays;  the  wounds,  that  you  are  now  giving 
your  souls,  must  smart,  and  smart  again,  before  they 
are  searched  and  healed  to  the  bottom.  And  what 
man  of  wisdom  would  make  himself  such  work  and 
sorrow?  Who  would  travel  on  an  hour  longer, 
that  knows  he  is  out  of  his  way,  and  must  come 
back  again  ?  Would  you  not  think  him  a  madman 
that  would  say,  I  will  go  on  a  little  further,  and 
then  I  will  turn  back. 

48.  And  methinks  if  it  were  but  this,  it  would 
terrify  you  from  your  delays,  that  it  is  likely  to 
make  your  conversion  more  grievous,  if  you  should 
have  so  great  mercy  from  God,  after  all,  to  be  con- 
verted. God  must  send  either  some  grievous  afflic- 
tion to  fire  and  frighten  you  out  of  your  sins,  or  else 
some  terrible  horrors  of  conscience,  that  should 
make  you  groan,  and  groan  again,  in  the  feeling  of 
your  folly.  The  pangs  and  throes  of  conscience,  in 
the  work  of  conversion,  are  far  more  grievous  in  some 
than  in  others.  Some  are  even  on  the  rack,  and 
almost  brought  beside  their  wits,  and  the  next  step 
to  desperation,  with  horror  of  soul  and  the  sense  of 
the  wrath  of  God;  so  that  they  lie  in  doubts  and 
complaints  many  a  year  together,  and  think  that 
they  are  even  forsaken  of  God.  And  to  delay  your 
conversion  is  the  way  to  draw  on  either  this  or 
worse. 


5«KJ  FIFTY   REASOjnS. 

49.  Consider  also,  that  delays  are  contrary  to  the 
very  nature  of  the  work,  and  the  nature  of  your 
souls  themselves.  If  indeed  you  ever  mean  to  turn, 
it  is  a  work  of  haste,  and  violence,  and  diligence,  that 
you  must  needs  set  upon.  You  must  "  strive  to 
enter  in,  for  the  gate  is  strait,  the  way  is  narrow 
that  leads  to  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it." 
"  Many  shall  seek  to  enter,  and  shall  not  be  able." 
"  When  once  the  master  of  the  house  is  risen  up, 
and  hath  shut  to  the  door,  and  ye  begin  to  stand 
without,  and  knock  at  the  door,  saying,  Lord,  Lord, 
open  to  us,  he  shall  answer,  I  know  you  not  whence 
you  are,  depart  from  me,  all  ye  workers  of  iniquity." 
It  is  a  race  that  you  are  to  run,  and  heaven  is  the 
prize.  "And  you  know  that  they  which  run  in  a  race 
run  all,  but  one  receiveth  the  prize;  and  therefore 
you  must  so  run,  as  that  you  may  win  and  obtain." 

And  what  is  more  contrary  to  this  than  delay? 
You  are  soldiers  in  fight,  and  your  salvation  lieth  in 
the  victory;  and  will  you  trifle  in  such  a  case,  when 
death  or  life  is  even  at  hand?  You  are  travellers 
to  another  world,  and  will  you  stay  till  the  day  is  al- 
most past,  before  you  will  begin  your  journey? 
Christianity  is  a  work  of  that  infinite  consequence, 
and  requireth  such  speedy  and  vigorous  despatch, 
that  delay  is  more  unreasonable  in  this  than  in  any 
thing  in  all  the  world. 

50.  If  all  this  will  not  serve  to  make  you  turn, 
let  me  tell  you,  that  while  you  are  delaying,  your 
judgment  doth  not  delay;  and  that  when  it  comes, 
these  delays  will  multiply  your  misery,  and  the  re- 
membrance of  them  wuT  be  your  everlasting  torment. 
Whatever  you  are  thinking  of,  or  whatever  you  are 
doing,  your  dreadful  doom  is  drawing  on  apace,  and 
misery  will  overtake  you,  before  you  are  aware. 
When  you  are  in  the  alehouse,  little  thinking  of 
ruin,  even  then  is  your  damnation  coming  in  haste; 
when  you  are  drowned  in  the  pleasures  or  cares,  of 
the  world,  your  judgment  is  still  hastening.  You 
may  delay,  but  it  will  not  delay.    It  is  the  saying  of 


FIFTY   REASONS.  229 

the  Holy  Ghost,  "  Whose  judgment  now  of  a  long 
time  lingereth  not,  and  their  damnation  slumbereth 
not."  You  may  slumber,  and  that  so  carelessly, 
that  we  cannot  awake  you,  but  your  damnation 
slumbereth  not,  nor  hath  done  of  a  long  time,  while 
you  thought  it  slumbered;  and  when  it  comes,  it 
will  awaken  you.  As  a  man  that  is  in  a  coach  on 
the  road,  or  in  a  boat  on  the  water,  whatever  he  is 
speaking,  or  thinking,  or  doing,  he  is  still  going  on, 
and  hastening  to  his  journey's  end,  or  going  down 
the  stream;  so  whatever  you  think,  or  speak,  or  do, 
whether  you  believe  it,  or  mock  at  it,  whether  you 
sleep  or  wake,  whether  you  remember  it  or  forget  it, 
you  are  hastening  to  destruction,  and  you  are  every 
day  a  day  nearer  to  it  than  before.  "  Behold  the 
Judge  standeth  before  the  door."  The  Holy  Ghost 
hath  told  you,  "  the  Lord  is  at  hand."  "  The  day 
is  at  hand;  the  time  is  at  hand;  the  end  of  all  things 
is  at  hand."  Rom.  xiii.  12.  Rev.  xxii.  10.  1  Pet.  iv. 
7.  "  Behold,  saith  the  Lord,  I  come  quickly,  and  my 
reward  is  with  me,  to  give  to  every  man  according 
as  his  work  shall  be."  And  do ^QJkJ^tjy^iey-see- 
the  Judge  approaching,  and  yeFwill  you  delay? 

"And  withal  consider,  that  when  it  comes,  it  will 
be  most  sore  to  such  as  you;  and  then  what  thoughts 
do  you  think  you  shall  have  of  these  delays?  You 
are  unable  to  conceive  how  it  will  torment  your  con- 
sciences, when  you  see  that  all  your  hopes  are  gone, 
to  think  to  what  you  have  brought  yourselves  by 
your  trifling.  To  feel  yourselves  in  remediless  mis- 
ery, and  remember  how  long  the  remedy  was  offered 
you,  and  you  delayed  to  use  it  till  it  was  too  late. 
To  see  that  you  are  for  ever  shut  out  of  heaven,  and 
remember  that  you  might  have  had  it  as  well  as 
others,  but  you  lost  it  by  delay.  O  then  it  will 
come  with  horror  into  your  mind,  How  often  was  I 
persuaded,  and  told  of  this  ?  How  often  had  I  in- 
ward motions  to  return?  How  often  did  I  purpose 
to  be  holy,  and  to  give  up  my  heart  and  life  to  God? 
I  was  even  ready  to  have  yielded,  but  I  still  delayed, 
and  now  it  is  too  late. 


230  FIFTY    REASONS. 

And  now,  having  laid  you  down  no  less  than  fiity 
moving  considerations,  if  it  he  possible  to  save__y^u 
from  these  delays,  T  concluli'e~with  this  request  jto 
you,  whoever  you  be.  that  read,  these  lines,  that  you 
would  but  consider  of  all  these  reasons,  and  then_en- 
textaiajthgm  as  they  deserve.  There  is  not  one  of 
them  that  you  are  able  to  gainsay,  much  less  all  of 
them.  If  after  the  reading  of  all  these,  you  can  yet 
believe  that  you  have  reasons  to  delay,  your  under- 
standings are  forsaken  of  God;  but  if  you  are  forced 
to  confess  that  you  should  not  delay,  what  will  you 
do  then?  Will  you  obey  God  and  your  own  con- 
sciences, or  will  you  not?  Will  you  turn  this  hour 
without  delay?  Take  heed  of  denying  it,  lest  you 
have  never  such  a  motion  more.  You  know  not 
but  God,  who  calls  you  to  it,  may  be  resolved  that 
it  should^  bgjapw  or  never.  I  do  beseecrryou,  yea, 
as  his  messenger,  I  charge  you  m  his  name, "that  you 
delay  not  an  hour  longer,  hu.t  pie^nily  he  rpanlvArlj 
and  make-an  unchangeable  covenant  wkkGod;  and, 
as  ever  you  would  Eave  favour  in  that  day  of  your 
distress,  delay  not  now  to  accept  his  favour  in  the 
day  of  your  visitation. 

O  what  a  blessed  family  were  that,  who  upon  the 
reading  of  this,  would  presently  say,  We  have  done 
exceeding  foolishly  in  delaying  so  great  a  matter  so 
long;  let  us  agree  together  to  give  up  ourselves  to 
God  without  any  more  delay.  This  shall  be  the 
day;  we  will  stay  no  longer.  The  flesh,  and  the 
world,  and  the  devil,  have  had  too  much  already. 
It  is  a  wonder  of  patience  that  hath  borne  with  us  so 
long;  we  will  abuse  the  patience  of  God  no  longer, 
but  begin  to  be  absolutely  his  this  day.  If  this  may 
be  the  effect  of  these  exhortations,  you  shall  have 
the  everlasting  blessing;  but  if  still  you  delay,  I  hope 
I  am  free  from  the  guilt  oi  your~blood. 


■I 


EXTRACTS 

FROM 

BAXTER'S  DYING  THOUGHTS. 


The  reader  has  witnessed  in  the  preceding  pages  the 
fervent  zeal  and  deep  anxiety  of  the  pious  author  in 
urging  on  the  impenitent  the  necessity  of  immediately 
turning  to  God  and  repairing  to  the  Saviour  in  order 
to  escape  eternal  death.  In  the  following  selections, 
are  exhibited  some  of  the  peaceful  and  happy  reflec- 
tions which  the  author  indulged,  in  relation  to  his  own 
prospects  in  the  near  view  of  death. 

The  sanctifying  operations  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
are  the  earnest  of  heaven,  and  the  sure  prognostic 
of  our  immortal  happiness.  It  is  "  a  change  of 
grand  importance "  to  man,  to  be  renewed  in  his 
mind,  his  will,  and  life.  It  repairs  his  depraved  fac- 
ulties. It  causes  man  to  live  as  man,  who  was  de- 
generated to  a  life  too  much  like  the  brutes.  Men 
are  "  slaves  to  sin,  till  Christ  makes  them  free." 
"  Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty." 
If  "the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  on  our  hearts,"  be 
not  our  excellence,  health,  and  beauty,  what  is  ? 
"  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that 
which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit."  Without 
Christ,  and  his  Spirit,  we  can  do  nothing.  Our 
dead  notions  and  reason,  though  we  see  the  truth, 
have  not  power  to  overcome  temptations,  nor  raise 
up  man's  soul  to  its  original,  and  end,  nor  possess  us 
with  the  love  and  joyful  hopes  of  future  blessedness. 
It  were  better  for  us  to  have  no  souls,  than  have 
our  souls  void  of  the  Spirit  of  God      Heaven  is  tlie 


232  DYING  THOUGHTS. 

design  and  end  of  this  important  change.  What  is 
our  knowledge  and  faith,  but  to  know  and  believe 
that  heaven  consists  in  the  glory  and  love  of  God 
there  manifested,  and  that  it  was  purchased  by- 
Christ,  and  given  by  his  covenant  r  What  is  our 
hope,  but  "  the  hope  of  glory,"  which  we  through 
the  Spirit  wait  for  ?  What  is  our  love,  but  a  desire 
of  communion  with  the  blessed  God,  begun  here, 
and  perfected  hereafter  ?  What  Christ  teaches  and 
commands,  he  works  in  us  by  his  Spirit.  He  sends 
not  his  Spirit  to  make  men  craftier  than  others  for 
this  world,  but  "  wiser  to  salvation,"  and  more  holy 
and  heavenly.  "  The  children  of  this  world  are  in 
their  generation  wiser  than  the  children  of  light." 
Heavenly  mindedness  is  the  special  work  of  the  Spir- 
it. In  producing  this  change,  the  SpiHt  overcomes 
all  opposition  from  the  worlds  the  flesh,  and  the  devil, 
Christ  first  overcame  the  world,  and  teaches  and 
causes  us  to  overcome  it,  even  its  flatteries  and  its 
frowns.  "  Our  faith  is  our  victory."  Christ  prom- 
ised his  Spirit  to  all  true  believers,  to  be  in  them  as 
his  advocate,  agent,  seal,  and  mark  ;  and  indeed,  the 
Spirit  here,  and  heaven  hereafter,  are  the  chief  of 
all  his  promises.  That  this  Spirit  is  given  to  all 
true  believers,  is  evident  by  the  effects  of  it.  They 
have  ends,  affections,  and  lives,  different  from  the 
rest  of  mankind.  They  live  upon  the  hopes  of  a 
better  life,  and  their  heavenly  interest  overrules  all 
the  opposite  interests  of  this  world  :  in  order  to 
which  they  live  under  the  conduct  of  divine  authori- 
ty; and  to  obey  and  please  God  is  the  great  business 
of  their  lives.  The  men  of  the  world  discern  tins 
difference,  and  therefore  hate  and  oppose  them,  be- 
cause they  find  themselves  condemned  by  their 
heavenly  temper  and  conversation.  Believers  are 
conscious  of  this  difference  ;  for  they  desire  to  be 
better,  and  to  trust  and  love  God  more,  and  to  have 
more  of  the  heavenly  life  and  comforts  ;  and  when 
their  infirmities  make  them  doubt  of  their  own  sin- 
cerity, they  would  not  change  their  governor,  rule, 


DYING  THOUGHTS.  288 

or  hopes,  for  all  the  world ;  and  it  is  never  so  well 
and  pleasant  with  them,  as  when  they  can  trust  and 
love  God  most ;  and  in  their  worst  and  weakest 
condition  they  would  fain  be  perfect.  Indeed,  what- 
ever real  goodness  is  found  among  men,  it  is  given 
by  the  same  Spirit  of  Christ  ;  but  it  is  notorious, 
that  in  heavenly  mindedness  and  virtue,  no  part  of 
the  world  is  comparable  to  serious  Christians.  This 
Spirit,  Christ  also  expressly  promised,  as  the  means 
and  pledge,  the  first  fruits  and  earnest  of  the  heaven- 
ly glory  ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  a  certain  proof  that  we 
shall  have  such  a  glory.  He  that  gives  us  a  spiritual 
change,  which  in  its  nature  and  tendency  is  heaven- 
ly ;  he  that  sets  our  hopes  and  hearts  on  heaven, 
and  turns  the  endeavours  of  our  lives  towards  future 
blessedness,  and  promised  this  preparatory  grace  as 
the  earnest  of  that  felicity,  may  well  be  trusted  to 
perform  his  word  in  our  complete  eternal  glory. 

"  And  now,  O  my  soul  !  why  shouldst  thou  draw 
back,  as  if  the  matter  was  doubtful  ?  Is  not  thy 
foundation  firm  ?  Is  not  the  way  of  life,  through 
the  valley  of  death,  made  safe  by  him  that  conquered 
death  ?  Art  thou  not  yet  delivered  from  the  bond- 
age of  thy  fears  ?  Hast  thou  not  long  ago  found  in 
thee  the  motions  and  effectual  operations  of  this 
Spirit  ?  and  is  he  not  still  residing  and  working  in 
thee,  as  the  agent  and  witness  of  Christ  ?  If  not, 
whence  are  thy  aspirations  after  God,  thy  desires  to 
be  nearer  to  his  glory,  to  know  him  and  love  him 
more  ?  Whence  came  all  the  pleasure  thou  hast 
had  in  his  sacred  truth,  and  ways,  and  service  ? 
Who  subdued  for  thee  thy  folly,  pride,  and  vain  de- 
sires ?  Who  made  it  thy  choice  to  sit  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus,  and  hear  his  word,  as  the  better  part,  and 
count  the  honors  and  preferments  of  the  world  but 
dross  ?  Who  breathed  in  thee  all  those  requests 
thou  hast  sent  up  to  God  ?  Remember  what  thou 
wast  in  the  hour  of  temptation,  how  small  a  matter 
has  drawn  thee  to  sin.  Forget  not  the  days  of  thy 
youthful  vanity.  Overlook  not  the  case  of  thy  sin- 
20 


234  DYING  THOUGHTS. 

fill  neighbours,  who,  in  the  midst  of  light,  still  live 
in  darkness,  and  hear  not  the  loudest  calls  of  God. 
Is  it  no  work  of  Christ's  Spirit  that  has  made  thee 
to  differ  ?  Thou  hast  nothing  to  boast  of,  and  much 
to  be  humbled,  and  also  to  be  thankful  for.  Thy 
holy  desires  are,  alas  I  too  weak  5  but  they  are  holy. 
Thy  love  has  been  too  cold  ;  but  it  is  the  most  holy 
God  whom  thou  hast  loved.  Thy  hopes  have  been 
too  low  ;  but  thou  hast  hoped  in  God,  and  for  his 
heavenly  glory.  Thy  prayers  have  been  too  dull 
and  interrupted  ;  but  thou  hast  prayed  for  holiness 
and  heaven.  Thy  labours  have  been  too  slothful ; 
but  thou  hast  laboured  for  God  and  Christ,  and  the 
good  of  mankind.  Though  thy  motion  was  too 
weak  and  slow,  it  has  been  god  ward,  and  therefore 
it  is  from  God.  O  bless  the  Lord,  not  only  for  giv- 
ing thee  his  word,  and  sealing  it  with  uncontrolled 
miracles,  but  also  for  frequently  and  remarkably  ful- 
filling his  promises,  in  the  answer  of  thy  prayers, 
and  in  great  deliverance  of  thyself  and  of  many  oth- 
ers ;  and  that  he  has  by  regeneration  been  prepar- 
ing thee  for  the  light  of  glory  !  And  wilt  thou  yet 
doubt  and  fear,  against  all  this  evidence,  experience, 
and  foretaste?" 

Why  should  it  seem  a  difficult  question,  How  my 
soul  may  willingly  leave  this  world,  and  go  to  Christ 
in  peace  ?  The  same  grace  which  regenerated  me, 
must  bring  me  to  my  desired  end.  "  Believe  and 
trust  thy  Father,  thy  Saviour,  and  thy  Comforter. 
Hope  for  the  joyful  entertainments  of  the  promised 
blessedness.  And  long  by  love  for  nearer  divine 
union  and  communion.  Thus,  O  my  soul,  mayst 
thou  depart  in  peace," 

How  clearly  does  reason  command  me  to  trust 
him,  absolutely  and  implicitly  to  trust  him,  and  to 
distrust  myself  I  He  is  essential,  infinite  perfection, 
wisdom,  power,  and  love.  There  is  nothing  to  be 
trusted  in  any  creature,  but  God  working  in  it,  or 
by  it  I  am  altogether  his  own,  by  right,  by  devo- 
tion, and  by  consent.     He  is  the  giver  of  all  good 


DYING  THOUGHTS.  235 

to  every  creature,  as  freely  as  the  sun  gives  its  light, 
and  shall  we  not  trust  the  sun  to  shine  ?  He  is  my 
Father,  and  has  taken  me  into  his  family,  and  shall 
I  not  trust  my  heavenly  Father  ?  He  has  given  me 
his  Son,  as  the  greatest  pledge  of  his  love,  and  "  shall 
he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  me  all  things  ?" 
His  Son  purposely  came  to  reveal  his  Father's  un- 
speakable love,  and  shall  I  not  trust  him  who  has 
proclaimed  his  love  by  such  a  messenger  from  heav- 
en ?  He  has  given  me  the  spirit  of  his  Son,  even 
the  spirit  of  adoption,'  the  witness,  pledge,  and  ear- 
nest of  heaven,  the  seal  of  God  upon  me,  "holiness 
to  the  Lord,"  and  shall  I  not  believe  his  love,  and 
trust  him  ?  He  has  made  me  a  member  of  his  Son, 
and  will  he  not  take  care  of  me,  and  is  not  Christ  to 
be  trusted  with  his  members  ?  I  am  his  interest, 
and  the  interest  of  his  Son,  freely  beloved,  and  dear- 
ly bought,  and  may  I  not  trust  him  with  his  treasure? 
He  has  made  me  the  care  of  angels,  who  "  rejoiced 
at  my  repentance,"  and  shall  they  lose  their  joy,  or 
ministration  ?  He  is  in  covenant  with  me,  and  has 
"given  me  many  great  and  precious  promises,"  and 
can  he  be  unfaithful  ?  My  Saviour  is  the  forerun- 
ner, who  has  entered  into  the  holiest,  and  is  there 
interceding  for  me,  having  first  conquered  death  to 
assure  us  of  a  future  life,  and  ascended  into  heaven, 
to  show  us  whither  we  must  ascend,  and  having 
"  said  to  his  brethren,  I  ascend  to  my  Father  and 
your  Father,  to  my  God  and  your  God  ;"  and  shall 
I  not  follow  him  through  death,  and  trust  such  a 
guide  and  captain  of  my  salvation  ?  He  is  there  to 
"  prepare  a  place  for  me,  and  will  receive  me  unto 
himself,"  and  may  1  not  confidently  expect  it  ?  He 
told  a  malefactor  on  the  cross,  "  to  day  shalt  thou  be 
with  me  in  paradise,"  to  show  believing  sinners  what 
they  may  expect.  His  apostles  and  other  saints 
have  served  him  on  earth  with  all  these  expectations. 
"  The  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,"  are  now 
possessing  what  I  hope  for,  and  I  am  a  "  follower  of 
them,  who,  through  faith  and  patience,  inherit  the 


236  DYING  THOUGHTS. 

promised  "  felicity  ;  and  may  I  not  trust  him  to  save 
me,  who  has  already  saved  millions  ? 

What  abundant  experience  have  I  had  of  God's 
fidelity  and  love,  and  after  all  shall  I  not  trust  him  ? 
His  undeserved  mercy  gave  me  being,  chose  my  pa- 
rents, gave  them  affectionate  desires  for  my  real 
good,  taught  them  to  instinct  me  early  in  his  word, 
and  educate  me  in  his  fear,  made  my  habitation  and 
companions  suitable,  endowed  me  with  a  teachable 
disposition,  put  excellent  books  into  my  hands,  and 
placed  me  under  wise  and  faithful  schoolmasters  and 
ministers.  His  mercy  fixed  me  in  the  best  of  lands, 
and  in  the  best  age  that  land  had  seen.  His  mercy 
early  destroyed  in  me  all  great  expectations  from  the 
world,  taught  me  to  bear  the  yoke  from  my  youth, 
caused  me  rather  to  groan  under  my  infirmities,  than 
struggle  with  powerful  lusts,  and  chastened  me  be- 
times, but  did  not  give  me  over  unto  death.  Ever 
since  I  was  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  great  mercy  has 
trained  me  up  in  the  school  of  affliction,  to  keep  my 
sluggish  soul  awake  in  the  constant  expectations  of 
my  change,  to  kill  my  proud  and  worldly  thoughts, 
and  to  direct  all  my  studies  to  things  the  most  neces- 
sary. How  has  a  life  of  constant  but  gentle  chas- 
tisement urged  me  to  "  make  my  calling  and  election 
sure,"  and  to  prepare  my  accounts,  as  one  that  must 
quickly  give  them  up  to  God  ?  The  face  of  death, 
and  nearness  of  eternity,  convinced  me  what  books 
to  read,  what  studies  to  prosecute,  what  companions 
to  choose,  drove  me  early  into  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord,  and  taught  me  to  preach  as  a  dying  man  to 
dying  men.  It  was  divine  love  and  mercy  which 
made  sacred  truth  so  pleasant  to  me,  that  my  life, 
under  all  my  infirmities,  has  been  almost  a  constant 
recreation.  How  far  beyond  my  expectations  has  a 
merciful  God  encouraged  me  in  his  sacred  work, 
choosing  every  place  of  my  ministry  and  abode  to 
this  day,  without  my  own  seeking,  and  never  send- 
ing me  to  labour  in  vain  !  How  many  are  gone  to 
heaven,  and  how  many  are  in  the  way,  through  a 


DYING  THOUGHTS.  237 

divine  blessing  on  the  word  which  in  weakness  I  de- 
livered !  Many  good  Christians  are  glad  of  now  and 
then  an  hour  to  meditate  on  God's  word,  and  refresh 
themselves  in  his  holy  worship,  but  God  has  allow- 
ed and  called  me  to  make  it  the  constant  business  of 
my  life.  In  my  library,  I  have  profitably  and  pleas- 
antly dwelt  among  the  shining  lights,  with  which 
the  learned,  wise,  and  holy  men  of  all  ages,  have  il- 
luminated the  world.  How  many  comfortable  hours 
have  I  had  in  the  society  of  living  saints,  and  in  the 
love  of  faithful  friends  !  How  many  joyful  days 
in  solemn  worshipping  assemblies,  where  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  has  been  manifestly  present,  both  with 
ministers  and  people  ! 

"  To  thee,  O  Lord,  as  to  a  faithful  Creator,  I 
commit  my  soul.  I  know  that  thou  art  '  the  faith- 
ful God,  which  keepeth  covenant  and  mercy  with 
them  that  love  thee,  and  keep  thy  commandments. 
Thou  art  faithful,  who  hast  called  me  to  the  fellow- 
ship of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.'  Thy  faith- 
fulness has  saved  me  from  temptation,  and  kept  me 
from  prevailing  evil,  and  will  'preserve  my  whole 
spirit,  and  soul,  and  body,  unto  the  coming  of 
Christ.'  It  is  '  in  faithfulness  thou  hast  afflicted 
me  ;'  and  shall  I  not  trust  thee  to  save  me  ?  c  It  is 
thy  faithful  saying,  that  thy  elect  shall  obtain  the 
salvation  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  with  eternal  glo- 
ry ;  lor  if  we  be  dead  with  him,  we  shall  also  live 
with  him  ;  if  we  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him.' 
To  thee,  O  my  Saviour,  I  commit  my  soul ;  it  is 
thine  by  redemption,  thine  by  covenant ;  it  is  sealed 
by  thy  Spirit,  and  thou  hast  promised  not  to  lose  it. 
Thou  wast i  made  like  unto  thy  brethren,  that  thou 
mightst  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest  in 
things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  reconciliation  for 
our  sins.  By  thy  blood  we  have  boldness  to  enter 
into  the  holiest,  by  a  new  and  living  way  consecrat- 
ed for  us.'  Cause  me  to  '  draw  near  with  a  true 
heart,  in  full  assurance  of  faith.'  Thy  name  is 
faithful  and  true.     True  and  faithful  are  all  thy 


288  DYING  THOUGHTS. 

promises.  Thou  hast  promised  { rest  to  weary  souls 
that  come  to  thee.'  I  am  weary  of  suffering,  sin, 
and  flesh  ;  weary  of  my  darkness,  dulness,  and  dis- 
tance. Whither  should  I  look  for  rest,  but  to  my 
heavenly  Father?  I  am  but  a  <  bruised  reed,1  but  thou 
*  wilt  not  break '  me.  I  am  but  <  smoking  flax,'  but 
thou  '  wilt  not  quench '  what  thy  grace  hath  kindled. 
Thou,  in  whose  name  the  nations  trust,  '  wilt  bring 
forth  judgment  unto  victory.  The  Lord  redeemeth 
the  souls  of  his  servants,  and  none  of  them  that 
trust  in  him  shall  be  desolate.  I  will  wait  on  thy 
name,  for  it  is  good  ;  I  trust  in  the  mercy  of  God 
for  ever  and  ever.  The  Lord  is  good,  a  strong  hold 
in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  he  knoweth  them  that 
trust  in  him.  Sinful  fear  brings  a  snare,  but  whoso 
putteth  his  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  be  safe.  Blessed 
is  the  man  that  maketh  the  Lord  his  trust.  Thou 
art  my  hope,  O  Lord  God,  thou  art  my  trust  from 
my  youth.  By  thee  have  I  been  holden  up  from 
the  womb,  my  praise  shall  be  continually  of  thee. 
Mine  eyes  are  unto  thee,  O  God,  the  Lord !  in  thee  is 
my  trust,  leave  not  my  soul  destitute.  I  had  faint- 
ed, unless  I  had  believed  to  see  the  goodness  of  the 
Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living,'  even  where  they 
that  live  shall  die  no  more."  The  sun  may  cease  to 
shine  on  man,  and  the  earth  to  bear  us  ;  but  God 
will  never  cease  to  be  faithful  to  his  promises.  Bles- 
sed be  the  Lord,  who  has  commanded  me  so  sale 
and  quieting  a  duty,  as  to  trust  in  him,  and  cast  all 
my  cares  upon  him,  who  has  promised  to  care  ibr 
me  ! 

I  viill  hope  for  the  salvation  of  God.  Hope  is  the 
ease,  yea  the  life  of  our  hearts,  which  would  other- 
wise break,  and  even  die,  within  us.  Despair  is  no 
small  part  of  hell.  God  cherishes  hope,  as  he  is  the 
lover  of  souls.  Satan,  our  enemy,  cherishes  despair, 
when  his  more  usual  way  of  presumption  fails. 
Hope  anticipates  salvation,  as  fear  does  evil.  It  is 
the  hypocrite's  hope  that  perishes  ;  and  all  who  hope 
for  durable  happiness  on  earth,  must  be  deceived. 


DYING  THOUGHTS.  239 

But  "  happy  is  he  that  hath  the  God  of  Jacob  for 
his  help,  whose  hope  is  in  the  Lord  his  God,  which 
made  heaven  and  earth,  which  keepeth  truth  for  ever. 
Wo  to  me,  if  in  this  life  only  I  had  hope.  But  the 
righteous  hath  hope  in  his  death.  And  hope  mak- 
eth  not  ashamed.  Blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth 
in  the  Lord,  and  whose  hope  the  Lord  is.  Lay  hold, 
then,  O  my  soul,  upon  the  hope  set  before  thee  ;  it 
is  thy  sure  and  steadfast  anchor,  without  which  thou 
wilt  be  as  a  shipwrecked  vessel.  Thy  foundation  is 
sure,  even  God  himself.  Our  faith  and  hope  are 
both  in  God.  Christ,  who  dwells  in  our  hearts  by 
faith,  is  in  us  the  hope  of  glory.  By  this  hope,  bet- 
ter than  the  law  of  Moses  could  bring,  we  draw  nigh 
unto  God.  We  hope  for  that  we  see  not,  and  with 
patience  wait  for  it.  We  are  saved  by  hope."  It 
is  an  encouraging  grace,  it  excites  our  diligence,  and 
helps  to  full  assurance  unto  the  end.  It  is  a  desir- 
ing grace,  and  is  earnest  to  obtain  the  glory  hoped 
for.  It  is  a  comforting  grace,  for  "  the  God  of  hope 
fills  us  with  all  joy  and  peace  in  believing,  that  we 
may  abound  in  hope  through  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost." 

God  needs  not  flatter  such  worms  as  we  are,  nor 
promise  us  what  he  never  means  to  perform.  He  has 
laid  the  rudiments  of  our  hope  in  a  nature  capable  of 
desiring,  seeking,  and  thinking  of  another  life.  He 
has  called  me  by  grace  to  actual  desires  and  endeav- 
ours, and  has  vouchsafed  some  foretastes.  I  look 
for  no  heaven,  but  the  perfection  of  divine  life,  light, 
and  love  in  endless  glory,  with  Christ  and  his  saints  ; 
and  this  he  has  already  begun  in  me.  And  shall  1 
not  boldly  hope,  when  I  have  capacity,  the  promise, 
and  the  earnest  and  foretaste  ?  Is  it  not  God  him- 
self that  caused  me  to  hope  ?  Was  not  nature, 
promise,  and  grace  from  him  ?  And  can  a  soul  mis- 
carry and  be  deceived,  that  departs  hence  in  a  hope 
of  God's  own  producing  and  encouraging  ?  "  Lord, 
I  have  lived  in  hope,  I  have  prayed,  laboured,  suf- 
fered, and  waited  in  hope,  and  by  thy  grace  I  will 


240  DYING  THOUGHTS. 

die  in  hope;  and  is  not  this  according  to  thy  word 
and  will  ?  And  wilt  thou  cast  away  a  soul  that 
hopes  in  thee,  by  thine  own  command  and  opera- 
tion ?"  Had  wealth,  and  honour,  and  continuance 
on  earth,  or  the  favour  of  man,  been  my  reward  and 
hope,  my  hope  and  I  had  died  together.  Were  this 
our  best,  how  vain  were  man.  But  the  Lord  liv- 
eth,  and  my  Redeemer  is  glorified,  and  intercedes  for 
me  ;  and  the  same  Spirit  is  in  heaven,  who  is  in  my 
heart,  as  the  same  sun  is  in  the  firmament  and  in 
my  habitation.  The  promise  is  sure  to  all  Christ's 
seed  ;  for  millions  are  now  in  heaven,  who  once  liv- 
ed and  died  in  hope  ;  they  were  sinners  once,  as  I 
now  am  ;  they  had  no  other  Saviour,  Sanctifier,  or 
promise,  than  I  now  have.  "  Confessing  that  they 
were  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth,  they  de- 
sired a  better  country,  that  is,  a  heavenly,  where 
they  now  are.  And  shall  I  not  follow  them  in  hope, 
who  have  sped  so  well  ?  Then,  O  my  soul,  hope 
unto  the  end.  Hope  in  the  Lord,  from  henceforth 
and  for  ever.  I  will  hope  continually,  and  will  yet 
praise  him  more  and  more.  My  mouth  shall  show 
forth  his  righteousness  and  salvation.  The  Lord  is 
at  my  right  hand,  I  shall  not  be  moved.  Therefore 
my  heart  is  glad,  and  my  glory  rejoice th,  my  flesh 
also  shall  rest  in  hope.  God  hath  showed  me  the 
path  of  life  ;  in  his  presence  is  fulness  of  joy,  at  his 
right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  evermore." 

Lord,  let  me  come  to  thee  in  the  confidence  of  thy 
love.  I  long  to  be  nearer,  in  the  clearer  sight,  the 
fuller  sense,  and  more  joyful  exercise  of  love  for 
ever '  Father,  into  thy  hand  I  commend  my  spirit  ! 
Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit !  Amen. 


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